Ties That Bind
by Ani Sparrow
Summary: What happens to Sylar after Claire stabbed him? What does the future hold for him? Gabriel/OC fic. Rated for some strong language and mild sexual content. More Heroes characters in later chapters.
1. Chapter 1

I do not own any character from the series of Heroes, and neither do I make any monies from the writing of this story. It is purely for my, and hopefully your, enjoyment.

I was never inspired to write a Heroes story, despite having been an avid fan since the first episode, but the storyline that Gabriel/Sylar had in Villains really inspired me. This story is my interpretation of what happens after the end of Villains - I know that it is going to bear no resemblance to Fugitives whatsoever, but what the hell!

________

**Chapter One**

Eve Wilson opened the back door, blinking in the strong sunlight, and chuckling as her dog, Saul, bounded past her and into the yard, barking with joy at being released from the confines of the house. Eve picked up her cup of tea and padded outside, sighing as she felt the ground already baking hot beneath her feet.

"Another fine day in paradise," she sighed, looking around her smallholding and then out to the few fields that belonged to her, in which she tried to grow enough grass and fodder to feed her half dozen cows and assorted sheep and goats, whose milk she sold to specialist cheese makers. "Why can't it rain, hmm, Saul?" she mused out loud as the American Staffordshire Terrier ran towards her, his barking more frantic than usual. "What's wrong?" Eve frowned, following the dog as he led her towards the barn, her frown deepening as she realised the door was ajar slightly.

'_Oh, shit,_' Eve thought, '_Not again_?' She thought back to the times that she and her late husband had been targeted by persons unknown since they had arrived in Mifflin County, Pennsylvania, five years ago, to set up their organic smallholding. There had been nothing major whilst Sam was alive; the animals being let loose from their pens or fields, the generator being tampered with; mostly minor inconveniences. But since Sam had been killed nearly two years before, the incidents had escalated and become more frequent; the most serious being a fire amongst the bales of hay in the top field, and another field being sprayed with chemicals, which she could not use for another four years.

Eve half wondered whether to go back and fetch the shotgun, once she reached the door, but decided against it, and pushed the door open, stepping cautiously into the gloomy interior. She spun around as a shadow moved to the right of her, catching her breath as she saw a dark haired, unshaven man, dressed in black jeans and a black shirt, watching her warily.

"Who are you? What do you want?" Eve demanded, catching her dog by his collar as he started to growl and advance on the man.

"I only wanted somewhere to sleep for the night," he replied in an even voice.

"You had no right to trespass... please leave."

"Look, I'm sorry..." the man offered.

"Leave!" Eve repeated, interrupting him and jerking her head towards the door. "And don't come back!"

"What harm have I done, hmm?" he asked, spreading his hands out in a conciliatory gesture. "None; I just slept in the hay. I don't suppose I can do some work in return for food...?"

"I have no work that needs doing," Eve insisted. "Now if you don't leave I shall set my dog onto you."

The stranger shifted his intense stare from Eve to her hound, then back again, sighing and shaking his head. "I know you're here alone... I arrived yesterday evening..."

Eve felt her blood run cold and finally realised the reason for Saul's unsettled behaviour all night. "You have five seconds to head for the door..."

"...I also know that your truck has broke; you want me to look at it?"

Eve hesitated. She had been without her truck for several days, and the nearest garage insisted that they would not be able to come and look at it until the following week at the earliest; a fact that Eve did not believe for one minute. "You a mechanic?"

"I'm good with my hands," the man replied. "And I can usually figure out how most things work."

"I don't suppose there's any harm in you looking at it..." she began hesitantly, the need for her truck outweighing her fear of the stranger. "But you try anything..."

"I won't, I promise," he insisted with a smile. "Gabriel... Gray," he added, holding out his hand.

"Eve Wilson," she replied, looking at his hand for a moment before reaching out and shaking it.

"I'll take a look then?" Gabriel suggested, glancing warily at the dog.

"Okay. Saul, no!" Eve commanded, releasing the collar carefully, ready to grab a hold of it if the dog showed signs of going for the man. To her relief, Saul merely growled and raised his heckles; clearly not comfortable with the stranger, but obeying his mistress for now.

"You passing through?" Eve queried.

"Yeah... just going from place to place, working where I can," he replied as he opened the hood of the truck which was parked in the barn, and looked at the engine; his mind already focused on how it worked and what was wrong with it.

"I'll go cook breakfast then..."

"Thanks," Gabriel smiled, taking his shirt off to reveal a lean, muscular body, with a thick thatch of hair across his chest.

'_Oh, God... have I done the right thing_?' Eve wondered as she walked back to the house, casting a glance over her shoulder. She fetched the shotgun from where she kept it by the cupboard, and checked it was loaded before propping it against the range, then put a pan onto the hob and poured oil in it, heating it well before getting eggs and bacon from the fridge. '_He seems nice enough_,' she frowned. '_But he's still a stranger, Eve_,' she reminded herself. '_You should have run him off_. _I will after he's eaten_,' she promised. '_It's not like he's the first man I've had help out_. _No, but the others have never trespassed and slept in the barn; spied on you..._'

"It's all fixed," Gabriel announced. "Sorry..." he chuckled as Eve jumped, not having heard him.

"That was quick," she replied a little too quickly; her heart racing like mad.

"It was just a faulty transmission, starts fine now."

Eve managed a smile. "Thanks," she nodded. "Bathroom's upstairs on the left if you want to get cleaned up?"

"You're sure?" he queried. "Thanks," he smiled at her nod of assent, and turned and made his way to the stairway, leaving Eve questioning her sanity yet again as she cooked the food.

'_You might as well give him the keys to the bloody house_!' she scolded herself as she flipped an egg over in the pan, cursing out loud as it broke.

"Smells good," Gabriel announced when he returned. "I'll just fetch my shirt..."

Eve watched as he headed out the door, chiding herself as part of her mind appreciated the sight of his lean, still damp body as he walked across the yard to the barn. She frowned as she realised that it had suddenly gone very dark outside, and nearly jumped out of her skin as a brilliant flash of lightning lit up the sky. "Saul! In!" she called, beckoning her dog back to the house, and feeling very grateful that she had been running late that morning, and had not yet milked the beasts and let them out into the paddock.

"Where'd that come from?" Gabriel queried as he hurried back into the kitchen, attempting to button up his shirt whilst carrying a holdall, which was covered with bits of straw.

"Looks like we're getting the rain I've been praying for for the past couple of weeks," Eve mused, glancing out of the window as large drops of rain began to fall.

"Great..." he muttered beneath his breath, not wanting to travel in what promised to be a torrential downpour.

"Speak for yourself," Eve rejoined as she put the plates of food down on the table. "I've been desperate for this!"

"I suppose you have," he agreed, a shadow crossing his face as he noticed the shotgun propped by the range, and he wondered if it was always kept there, or whether he was a special occasion.

"Sorry..." Eve began, chewing her lip as she caught his look. "I..."

"It's okay," Gabriel interrupted. "You're a woman alone, I understand your concern."

"Thanks," she smiled weakly, getting the coffee pot from the range and pouring them both a drink. "There have been things happen, since... well, since my husband died a couple of years back and I tend to err on the side of caution."

"I don't blame you," he agreed as he started to tuck into the eggs and bacon, belatedly realising just how hungry he was; it had been a couple of days since he had eaten properly. "You can never be too sure of people these days."

"No," Eve replied sadly, "you can't..."

They ate in silence, the only sound being the rain hammering against the window panes, and bouncing several inches off the ground as it hit.

"Thank you," Gabriel smiled, eventually breaking the silence when he finished his meal. "I guess I'd better be on my way..." he looked over at the window, grimacing at the weather, hoping that Eve would not throw him out.

Eve frowned, torn between wanting rid of the stranger and not wishing anyone except her worst enemy out in the weather. "You're... welcome to stay a while... until it stops..."

"No, it's okay," Gabriel insisted, rising from his chair. "I've imposed on you too much

"You'll catch your death out in this!"

"I'll live," he chuckled. "It's only rain, after all."

"No, please stay," Eve insisted. "After all, I doubt you're some mass murderer."

Gabriel glanced at her as she collected the plates, his eyes unreadable. "Here let me; it's the least I can do," he offered, taking the plates from her and carrying them to the sink. "You sure it's okay to stay, at least until it stops?"

"Yeah, course it is," Eve replied a little too brightly. "I'll have to go and milk the animals now though. They don't wait for anything, not even a biblical flood!"

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Erm... look, I'm sorry, but would you mind coming over with me? I don't..."

..."want me alone in the house," he finished for her. "It's okay; I told you, I understand your caution."

"You ready?"

Gabriel grinned at her as she pulled open the door, and they both ran, shouting and protesting across the already sodden yard to the shed which housed the animals.

"Oh, God!" Eve spluttered as she leaned against the door after she had closed it. "Dunno why you bothered drying off!" she chuckled, looking at Gabriel who was soaked to the skin, as she was.

"Me neither," he laughed, trying not to make it obvious that he had noticed the way her tee shirt clung to her body, outlining every curve. He watched as Eve made her way down the stalls, calling out to each individual beast, then starting to hook the cows and sheep up to the milking machine. "You don't do the goats with that thing?" he queried as she fetched a pail and stool and took it to the first goat.

"No; goats are more difficult to milk and it is impossible to attach the cups to them. It's not easier by hand, but it is necessary," she sighed as she positioned the stool and bucket and started to squeeze on the teats.

"How do you make a profit?" Gabriel frowned as he peeled off his shirt and hung it on a hook. "Is this all you have?"

"Yes; I supply organic milk to a local specialist cheese maker. It's not a great profit, but I manage. I certainly can't sell the place..." she sighed.

"Why?"

"Oh... the locals never really welcomed us; typical backwater attitudes, and there have been things happen over the years. After Sam died, I did try to sell up, but I didn't have one person interested, and I heard through the grapevine that rumours had been spread about the land; it put people off," she shrugged. "So I try to keep it going."

"Must be hard alone," Gabriel sympathised.

"Yeah, it is. Like the truck, for instance. I can turn my hands to most things, but engines have me beat. I can't make repairs to the generator so I have to get someone in, _when_ they bother to turn up. I can't move the bales of hay from the fields on my own, so I have to get someone for that, too."

"So why don't you hire someone?"

"Because I can't afford to, and no-one works for free, alas."

"And I guess you don't take on strangers who sleep in your barn...?" Gabriel mused wryly.

"It's not a good idea, no," Eve nodded, looking apologetically at him. "But I guess I can't trust anyone around here, so..."

"So, you'd consider taking me on?"

"I can't afford to pay you," Eve cautioned, trying to batten down the panic rising inside her.

"Just food and shelter is all I ask," Gabriel reasoned. "Just until you get the jobs done that need doing, then I'll be on my way... if you want."

"I don't know..." Eve fretted, yelping as she squeezed the teat of the goat a little too hard, and Trixie back-kicked, knocking Eve from the stool.

"Are you okay?" Gabriel worried, hurrying over to her, trying to keep from grinning at the sight of Eve sprawled on the floor. "Sorry, I'm disturbing you."

"I'm fine," Eve replied with a rueful sigh, accepting his helping hand up. "Look, I appreciate the offer, but I don't know you from Adam."

"You could say the same about any hired help you take on; people lie so easily these days. Unless it is someone you already know, how do you know what anyone is like?"

"True," Eve conceded. "I will see, okay?"

"Can't ask more than that," Gabriel smiled, backing away as she sat back down and started humming a song to the goat, and stroking her head to soothe her before starting to milk her once more.

________

"Okay..." Eve sighed as she stared out of the window. "Now I _really _wish it would stop! I know I wanted rain, but not this much!" She made her way back over to the settee, flopping down in it and looking ruefully at Gabriel, who was sitting in the armchair, dealing out another hand in the game of poker they were playing in a bid to pass the time.

"You should always be careful what you wish for," he warned as he picked up his cards and looked at them, his expression impassive. "Life has a tendency to give it to you."

"Yeah... like this damned place!" Eve cursed as she glanced at her own hand, then at her dwindling pile of Monopoly money. If she had thought her late husband, Sam, had had a good poker face, he had got nothing on the man sitting to the right of her.

"Whose idea was it to come here?" Gabriel queried as he pushed two five hundred dollar bills to the centre of the coffee table.

"It was something we both wanted," Eve explained with half a mind on whether to match his stake or up it. She decided on the latter and put in one thousand and fifty dollars, leaving herself with almost nothing left in her pot, but she felt confident enough with her hand to risk it. "Then the company Sam worked for got bought out and he didn't like his new bosses, so it seemed like a good time to try our dream."

Gabriel took a card then looked over at Eve beneath his lashes before adding another five hundred dollar bill.

"Damn!" she hissed beneath her breath, glaring at him in mock anger before throwing her cards down.

"You fold?" he asked with an impish grin.

"I never was any good at poker," she chuckled.

"Pity it's not real money," Gabriel mused as he took the pot.

"If it were, I wouldn't be gambling it away!" Eve snorted.

"Me neither, actually," he admitted with a wry chuckle. "Another beer?"

"Ah, what the hell?" Eve nodded, stretching on the settee as Gabriel headed to the kitchen. It had been a long day having being cooped up because of the weather, but it had given her a chance to get to know the man who had trespassed in her barn, a little better. "Thanks," she smiled as he handed her a bottle.

"Y'know," Gabriel mused as he sat back down, "I'm surprised you never tried to call the cops when I showed up. Why?"

Eve snorted, shaking her head. "Because the cops are like everyone else in this Godforsaken place!" she spat, the drink loosening her tongue. "If not worse! They... they believed that I killed Sam..." she told him, her voice breaking. "It was only the fact that they could not find a shred of evidence that I wasn't charged. But you know what they say about mud sticking."

"Only too well," he agreed with a heavy sigh. "Is it okay if I go up?"

"Yeah, you carry on," Eve agreed. "I have things to do before I turn in."

"Thanks," Gabriel smiled as he rose, finishing the bottle of beer before making for the stairs, pausing in front of Eve. "Thanks," he repeated, smiling at her. "I appreciate your trust in me."

"That's okay," Eve replied. "I couldn't exactly send you out in this, could I?" She waited until she heard the door to the guest room close and got up off the settee, fetching the shotgun from where she had left it by the stove, before climbing the stairs, Saul following closely behind her.

________

"What the...?" Eve's eyes shot open and she hauled herself out of bed, hurrying to the window and looking out in the pre-dawn light, wondering what had woken her. She frowned as she spotted the door to the animal shed open, and grabbed her housecoat, hurrying from her room with Saul leading the way. She glanced at the door to the spare room, unsure whether to be relieved to see it still closed, and she half wondered whether to wake Gabriel, before deciding against it. Eve ran down the stairs and unlocked the door, allowing a barking, excitable Saul out, and she followed him across the yard, belatedly remembering that she had forgotten to bring her shotgun. She heart raced as she heard the muffled thud of a shot and she put extra impetus in her speed, skidding to a halt as Walt Woods appeared in the doorway, a smoking shotgun in his hand.

"What...? _No_!" she screamed as he took aim and shot her beloved dog at point blank range. "No, you bastard!"

"I warned ya, didn' I?" Walt drawled as he re-loaded. "I warned ya what'd happen if ya didn't pay me."

Eve dropped to her knees by her dog, and cradled his head in her lap, sobs racking her body.

"Look at me when I'm-a talkin' to ya!" Walt spat, grabbing Eve by her hair and yanking her head up so that she was facing him. "Didn' I warn ya what'd happen, eh?"

"Fuck you!" Eve spat, shrieking as he backhanded her hard enough to lay her flat on her back.

"I'll accept that as down payment," he sneered, starting to unbuckle his belt with one hand. He glanced up as he caught a movement out of the corner of his eye, and levelled the gun, shooting without even really knowing what he was shooting at.

"No-o-o-o!" Eve screamed again as she watched in horror as Gabriel flew back through the open door into the kitchen, the gunshot wound clearly visible in his chest. "No..." she sobbed, squirming along in the mud, in an effort to get away from her attacker, but Walt hit her with the side of the gun butt, knocking her half senseless.

"Stupid bitch!" Walt spat as he hauled down his pants and lay on top of her, his hands tugging her housecoat open. "Maybe this can be a weekly payment, huh?" he snarled as his fingers probed between her legs.

"N-no..." Eve gasped as she came to, trying to push the heavy man off her, to no avail. Her eyes widened in terror as his head suddenly twisted to one side, the snap of his neck clearly audible, and his body slumped down, almost crushing the breath from her, before it went flying through the air, slamming into the pick-up. She looked in shock and bewilderment as Gabriel appeared, holding out his hand to help her up.

"H-he... s-shot..." Eve scrabbled away, reaching for the discarded shotgun., "He shot you!" she screamed, aiming it at Gabriel. I saw him shoot you! I saw your chest blown open!"

"Eve..." Gabriel soothed, holding his hands open in a placating gesture. "It's okay..."

"N-no... no, it's not! He shot you! How can you be alive?" Eve looked around frantically, wondering how she could get to her feet without lowering her defences.

"Eve... I'm not going to hurt you, I swear..."

"H-how did you kill him? _How_?" she demanded. "Y-you're one of... them! One of those freaks who fly and stuff! Aren't you?" she screamed, her hysteria nearing fever pitch, and she aimed the gun at his chest. "Aren't you?" she insisted.

"Yes," Gabriel admitted with a heavy sigh. "Shooting me didn't work for him, and it won't work for you. I don't die." '_Well I do, but I'm not letting you know that_...' he mused to himself.

"Oh... God..." Eve gulped, trying to turn the gun around to jam it underneath her chin, gasping in shock as it flew out of her hand and straight into Gabriel's, who made it safe, discarding the shot that was left in the barrel.

"Nothing is worth that, Eve," he told her sadly. "Nothing at all."

"What the hell would someone like you know about that?" she spat as she scrambled to her feet, wrapping her muddy housecoat around herself to cover her nakedness, and backing away from him as soon as she was upright.

"Stay there," Gabriel sighed, ignoring her barb, even though it stung, and he walked to the shed, frowning with sadness and anger at the sight of the slaughtered animals.

"Oh... God..." Eve gasped from behind him, and Gabriel caught her just in time as her legs buckled beneath her. "Let go!" she hissed, trying to struggle from his grasp, but the events of the previous few minutes overtook her, and Eve sobbed in his arms, grateful of the contact with another human being, even though she despised what he was.

"Come on, we have to go," he eventually urged.

"I'm not going anywhere with you!" Eve growled, pulling away from him, her face twisted with bitter anger.

Gabriel snorted and shook his head incredulously, placing his hands on his hips and he regarded her. "Sure... no problem..." he mocked sarcastically. "Any time, Evie..."

"Do _not_ call me Evie!" she screamed, throwing a punch at him and crying out in frustration when he caught her wrist easily. "Let go!"

"Not until you calm the fuck down!" Gabriel exploded, his anger finally getting the better of him. "And _when_ you do, you will go and get some things together, 'cos you can't stay here, got that?"

"Who do you think you are, ordering me what to do?"

"Okay... okay, you stay here, _Eve_! You stay here and explain all this away, hmm?" he shouted, waving his free arm to encompass the devastation in the yard. "You say they tried to stitch you up for your husband's murder? What the fuck do you think they will do to you if they saw this, _Eve_?"

Eve gasped, her body shuddering violently as the thought hit home. "I don't want to go with you," she insisted, finally starting to calm down.

"And _where_ will you go? _What _will you do, hmm?"

Eve sagged, screwing her eyes tight shut as she tried to clear her mind from all the thoughts whizzing around inside her head. "How are... we going to cover this up?" she whispered.

"Go and get some things together," he instructed, releasing her wrist. "Not too much; just a basic change of clothes, a couple of photographs..."

"Okay," she nodded, turning away and catching her breath at the sight of Saul lying in the yard. Her hand flew to her mouth to try to stifle her sobs, and Eve ran to the house, her wails clearly audible from the shed.

Gabriel walked to the pick-up that the body of Walt Woods was slumped against and opened the drivers door. Using his power, he moved the corpse into the cab of the truck, hauling the dangling legs in and slamming the door shut. He then turned his attention to the dog, moving him into the shed with the other slaughtered animals before firing a bolt of electricity at the bales of hay stacked along one wall. Gabriel backed out of the building, firing off more bolts as he went, until it was well ablaze by the time Eve re-appeared, having got cleaned up and changed, and carrying a backpack.

"You can do the house, too," she told him, her voice flat and emotionless. "I'm not having those bastards taking anything from it."

Gabriel nodded and disappeared inside, emerging only when the upper story was well alight and smoke was billowing from the downstairs windows. "Where did he live?" he asked, nodding towards the pick-up.

"Huh?" Eve frowned, glancing at him. "Ten miles north, why?"

"You up to driving a few miles?"

"Yeah... what do you have in mind?"

"If his body is discovered here, you'll get the blame for it," Gabriel explained.

"And what will they make of this?" she snorted, looking around the smoke filled yard.

"An unexplained mystery?" he suggested. "And if he's not here, they can't tie in the two..."

"Tire tracks?"

"It's going to rain again later," Gabriel reasoned. "If it's as bad as yesterday, should wash away any tracks long before this place is discovered."

"Why... are you helping me? No-one knows you're here and you could just walk away, leaving me in the shit. So, why?" Eve pressed.

"Because, despite what you think, those of us with powers aren't all bastards!" he evaded, turning his back on her and making his way to the pick-up truck of the dead man. "You follow, okay?" he called over his shoulder without turning around.

"I guess so," Eve muttered, chewing her lip and wondering if it was such a good idea, until she took a look around the smoke filled yard, watching the flames dancing above the roofs of the outbuildings and her house, and she knew that she had no choice.

________


	2. Chapter 2

I do not own any character from the series of Heroes, and neither do I make any monies from the writing of this story. It is purely for my, and hopefully your, enjoyment.

So, who saw Clear and Present Danger? Wasn't it a great episode? As I said before, this is **my **interpretation of what happened after Villains ended.

**________**

**Chapter Two**

Eve watched from the side of the road, half in fascination, half in horror as Gabriel manoeuvred Walt Woods pick-up just by moving his hand, and gasped when, with a flick of his fingers, the truck careered off the road at speed, ending up in a ditch. Her eyes widened further as a crackling blue ball of electricity appeared in his hand, and he shot the ball towards the truck, exploding the gas tank.

"Let's go," Gabriel ordered as he approached her own truck, getting in the drivers side.

"Just 'til we reach Harrisburg... I'll go my own way from there," Eve told him as she hesitantly climbed in beside him.

"We're not going to Harrisburg," he replied as he started to drive. "We're taking Interstate 80."

"_What_?" she exploded. "No way! Stop; I want to get out."

"And just how long do you think you'll last before the cops pick you up, hmm? Especially if you get out now, right by that truck."

"Take me to Harrisburg!" Eve insisted, shifting uneasily in her seat as he gave her a sideways glare.

"No."

Eve went to open the door, but Gabriel reached over, grasping her hand in his. "I know you're scared, Eve, but if you want to get out of this situation, then you have to do _exactly_ as I say, got that?" Gabriel insisted urgently.

Eve gasped and snatched her hand away as he released her, looking at him with naked fear in her eyes. "W-why d-do you care what h-happens to me?" she stuttered. "Why should I t-trust you...?"

Gabriel sighed and glanced at her, a frown knitting his brows. "I am the only friend you have," he reminded her, "the only one who can help you right now, but I can't help you if you're going to fight and argue the whole time, yeah? You need to disappear; get out of this State, and the best place to do that is in a big city. And I have my reasons for helping you, okay?"

"Okay..." Eve nodded, not convinced by his words, but accepting them for now, and she fell silent, wondering just what she had gotten herself into, and more importantly, how she was going to get herself out of it. "Will I ever get to know your reasons?"

"One day, maybe... so, why did he attack you?" Gabriel questioned, changing the subject.

"I was in financial dire straits; he lent me money."

"Hmm, okay..."

"Yeah, stupid, huh?" Eve sighed. "But my hay harvest was destroyed and I needed specialist organic feed for the animals; I had little choice."

"Did he destroy the harvest?"

"I'd put my last cent on it... I was desperate," she mused sadly. "I guessed his terms would be bad, and they were, but what I didn't reckon on was him changing the terms virtually every time he came round. Last time he told me he wanted paying in full, or else."

"So what the fuck was the point in destroying the only thing that was bringing you income? The only thing that was worth anything?"

"I guess he wanted the land. He had already bought up several properties in the area," Eve replied, shaking her head. "Walt was a bastard... I learned far too late that you do not do business with him, even if you are on your uppers. The money wasn't important to him; control was. And boy, did he like to have you over a barrel... figuratively speaking."

"Literally too, from what I saw of him," Gabriel remarked dryly, winking at her in an attempt to lighten things between them.

"Yeah..." she snorted, seeing humour in spite of herself. "It would have been a lot more comfortable, and cleaner, too!"

"Look, we might have to dump this truck back in your yard and go on foot..." Gabriel worried, not having thought of the problem until then. "There might be questions asked if it's missing. You okay with that?"

"I... don't think I can go back down there," Eve worried, chewing her lip. "I couldn't face seeing it again..."

"Okay," he nodded, "you gonna wait for me while I drive it down?"

"You seem to be pretty good at helping me so far," she shrugged, hiding her doubt. "I don't see what other option I have. But what about the rains? If it's as bad as yesterday, we won't get very far on foot."

"True," Gabriel agreed, pulling a face while he thought of a solution. "Where's the nearest town?"

"If we carry on northwards, it's Bellfontane."

"Big enough to get a truck?"

"I can't afford another truck, and we wouldn't get much for this one..."

"Eve," he smiled, "let me worry about that, being as it's what I'm best at, yeah?"

"If you steal one..."

"I won't steal one," he assured her. "Trust me, hmm?"

"Okay," she sighed, having little choice but to do as he asked.

________

Eve frowned as the truck pulled to a stop, realising that she had been so lost in her thoughts, that she had not noticed that they had arrived in Bellfontane.

"So, how you going to get a truck if you're not going to steal one, and we can't afford to buy one?" she asked, looking at Gabriel who merely smiled at her.

"Who said we can't afford one?" he queried, arching an eyebrow at her as he reached for his holdall, pulling out a wad of banknotes.

"Wha...?" Eve gasped, looking from the bundle to the man who held it. "Where did you...?" She watched as Gabriel picked up a dime from the well by the handbrake, her eyes nearly popping from her head as it turned to gold. "Why couldn't you have turned up six months earlier...?"

"I was headed in the wrong direction," he replied with a wry smile.

"I thought people like you... could only do one thing?"

"Most can, but I guess I'm kinda special," he replied, his smile broadening into a self-depreciating grin.

"Look, Gabriel, you're obviously either... well, on the run, or you want to avoid detection, and I'm probably going to land you deep in the shit. Please, I'll accept a truck, but then I want us to go our separate ways, okay? I can make it to a city on my own."

"Eve," he sighed, shaking his head, "if I wanted to hurt you, I had plenty of chances back on the road..."

"No! I know that you don't want to hurt me, I just don't want to bring any trouble on you after all that you've done for me, even though I still have no idea why you've helped me."

"Because I wanted to," Gabriel insisted. "Because you were good enough to offer me food and shelter, even though you didn't trust me, and were probably scared. I owed you."

"Owed me?" she snorted. "You didn't owe me enough to kill a man... but he wasn't the first man you've killed, was he?"

"No," he replied after a pause. "But what would you have me do, Eve? Watch as he raped you? Murdered you?"

Eve fell silent, lost in an internal struggle as she tried to reconcile what she now knew about Gabriel, with the man she had partly come to know over the last day. "How many people have you killed...?"

"Eve!" Gabriel protested, glancing sharply at her.

"I _have_ to know, Gabriel. How many?"

Gabriel sighed deeply, running his hands through his hair; desperately trying to think of how to reply to her.

"That many, huh?" Eve mused bitterly when he did not reply.

"This power I have... it... it controlled me. It gave me an uncontrollable hunger for more..."

"More what?"

"I can take other peoples powers," he explained. "I killed... some for it, and then I learned how to access them by touch alone."

"But you still kill them...? she gulped, failing to suppress a shudder. "How did you get their powers by killing them, then?"

"No! No, I don't still kill them!" he lied, avoiding her second question. "I get their powers without killing, now." Gabriel turned and looked at a pale faced Eve. "I'm not a killer, Eve; not deep down. I just..."

"My Sam..." Eve interrupted, " he was killed by... we were returning from town and saw a broken down pick-up by the side of the road. Sam stopped to help, and he..." Eve stopped, unable to continue talking, and she screwed her eyes up in a vain attempt to stop both the tears and the image that returned to her time and time again. " I watched as he sucked the life out of him," she gulped, shuddering with horror and revulsion. "All there was left... was a mummified body..."

"Eve," Gabriel began, reaching for her hand and squeezing it, "I'm so sorry..."

"He came towards the truck," Eve continued, almost as if she had not heard Gabriel speak. "I locked the doors and scrambled to the drivers seat, and drove off... I left him! I left Sam behind..."

"There was nothing you could have done for him," he pointed out. "If you had stayed, you'd have been killed, too."

"I sometimes wish I had been," she replied miserably. "The police tried to make out I had killed him, and that I'd tried to cover it up by making up this story... can you believe that?" she snorted, shaking her head. "They couldn't prove a damned thing, of course, but the suspicion never went away..."

"No wonder you hate people with powers," Gabriel sympathised. "But I swear, we're not _all_ bad..."

"You are," she mused with a slightly nervous snort. "And yet you've done more for me in one day than anyone in Mifflin County had in five years."

"I _was_ bad, Eve," he corrected. "That's why I went on the road; I needed to get away from my life as it was."

"Why, what happened?"

"Oh, God..." he chuckled wryly, "where to begin?"

"The beginning is usually a good place," Eve suggested.

"I'm not sure I know where the beginning is," Gabriel mused, closing his eyes as he thought back over his life. "I grew up as the only child of a watchmaker, and a housewife for whom I was never enough. She always wanted me to be better; to be someone I couldn't be... I was doted on, sure, but I never felt as if I belonged there, y'know? Turns out that I didn't..."

"Oh?"

"You ever heard of the Petrelli's?"

"As in the New York Senator?" Eve asked.

"Yeah, that's them... Angela Petrelli, she made me believe that she was my mother; that I had a father and two brothers; everything I ever wanted in the world... but she was just using me. She wanted me to do her dirty work so that she wouldn't have blood on her hands."

"You mean kill for her?" Eve frowned.

"Yeah... and then there was my _father_ wanting me to do exactly the same, but they were both just using me," Gabriel told her in a flat tone.

"Oh," Eve nodded, not wanting to know any more, but feeling that Gabriel wanted to talk about it. "W-what happened?"

"I got taken out before I had the chance to kill the bitch," he shrugged. "I was holding her and a coupla others hostage, and one of them... killed me first," he shrugged, giving her a rueful smile.

"Okay... erm... how many times can you... _die_?"

"Infinite. But there is only one way to do it properly so that I stay dead, and I think the girl whose power of regeneration I took, was the one who took me out."

"So, she can't die either?"

Gabriel shook his head, staring out of the window as he recalled the events of a few months previous. "I... was rescued, then I disappeared off the face of the earth."

Eve opened her mouth to ask who had rescued him, but was interrupted by a knock on the window, making them both jump. She gulped as she saw a police officer standing outside, and wound the window down, her whole body tensing up. "Can I help you, officer?" she enquired as calmly as she could.

"You're strangers?" he mused, bending down and peering in at Gabriel. "What you doin' here?"

"Just passin' through," Eve replied with a bright smile. "Headin' on up to the Interstate."

"To go where?" the officer demanded.

"New York," Gabriel replied, keeping his hands on the wheel to stop the urge to take him out.

"Okay..." the policeman nodded. "I'd be on your way b'fore the rains start."

"Yeah," Eve nodded. "Thanks." She wound the window back up, not daring to look at Gabriel as he kicked the engine into life and pulled away. "Shit..." she muttered as she glanced in the rear mirror, "he's radioing in the license plate..."

"We can't buy another truck now," Gabriel sighed with exasperation. "They'd be on us before we even hit the highway."

"So what do we do?"

"Dump this and go on foot as far as we can, until we find something to steal," he replied, shrugging ruefully at her. "Got no other choice."

"But..."

"You got a better idea?"

"No," Eve sighed, shaking her head slowly, groaning as the first large raindrops splattered on the windscreen.


	3. Chapter 3

I do not own any character from the series of Heroes, and neither do I make any monies from the writing of this story. It is purely for my, and hopefully your, enjoyment.

Well, the new series (or continuation of the third season), just gets better and better! It really is back to its very best – I can't wait for the next episode.

Thank you to those of you who have reviewed – it is very much appreciated.

________

**Chapter three**

"Ugh!" Eve gasped, shivering violently as Gabriel pushed open the door to the hunting and fishing lodge, sending silent thanks that it was deserted. "Oh, God..."

"I need that Japanese guy's power," Gabriel muttered darkly to himself, shaking his head like a dog and sending water flying in all directions. "Fucking weather... get those clothes off," he instructed Eve, already pulling his tee shirt over his head then reaching for the fly of his jeans.

"I..." she hesitated.

"Unless you wanna catch pneumonia, this is no time for modesty, Eve, now strip!"

Eve did as she was told, turning her back on him, but smiling over her shoulder at him as he held out a blanket from the cot at the side of the hut. "Thanks," she nodded, her teeth chattering as she wrapped it around herself, savouring the scant warmth it gave her. She watched as Gabriel, huddled in a blanket himself, turned his attention to the small fireplace, piling logs on top of one another before concentrating a burst of electricity on a piece of kindling until it took, then started on another piece. She collected up their clothes and took then out to the verandah, wringing them out as best she could before laying them over a bench in the porch in the hope that the sun would dry them off in the morning.

"Come on, Eve," Gabriel beckoned. "The fire's going."

Eve did not need to be told twice, and shut the door firmly on the inclement weather, padding over to join him sitting on the floor by the hearth, his hands virtually on top of the flames as he tried to get warm. "Still glad you helped me...?" she mused dryly as her hands joined his.

"I'm starting to have my doubts," Gabriel teased with a grin, nudging her gently with his shoulder.

"I still don't know why you're doing it, but thanks anyway," Eve smiled.

"I guess I want to prove to myself that I _can_ be the good guy," he shrugged.

"So, who _did_ rescue you? When you had... _died_?"

Gabriel snorted, shaking his head slowly. "Arthur Petrelli, would you believe?" he chuckled incredulously. "I woke up in the grounds and there he was..."

"_You!" Gabriel spat, scrambling to his feet and stumbling towards the figure, silhouetted against the flames of the burning building. He shook his head, unable to understand why he had such a pounding headache._

"_I guess you found out the hard way how we can be killed, Arthur mocked, holding up a vicious, blood covered shard of glass before discarding it. He stopped the advancing man in his tracks, knowing that he would not have long before Gabriel lost his disorientation and gained the upper hand. "Join me, Gabriel," he urged. "You can become stronger than me, and together we can dominate. Join me."_

"_Why the hell should I want to share power with you?" Gabriel spat, straining as he tried to overcome the older man's power. "You're not even family..."_

"_Ah, but I am," Arthur corrected. "My brother, God rest his soul, was your father."_

"_No! No! You're lying again!"_

"_You know that I am not," Arthur shrugged, chuckling to himself as he saw realisation dawn on Gabriel's face. "See..."_

"_Bastard!" Gabriel snarled, fighting against his invisible constraint._

"_Join me," Arthur urged once more, looking around as he heard voices approaching. "Join me, Gabriel, and we can defeat Angela, Nathan, and whoever else tries to stand in our way."_

"_No..." _

_Arthur glanced around again, frowning as the voices grew closer. "You have a sibling, Gabriel... a twin. Join me and I will tell you who they are."_

"_A tw...twin?" Gabriel echoed, casting out to see whether Arthur was lying and gasping audibly when he found that he was not. "Who? Who?" he shouted, falling forward as he broke free from Arthur's hold, and he lunged for him, crying out in frustration as the older man disappeared into thin air. "No!" he yelled, spinning around, looking for something, anything, to vent his anger upon, until self-preservation kicked in, and he ran towards nearby trees as several figures appeared in the distance, obviously looking for survivors of the inferno._

"You're one of a twin?" Eve pondered, looking at Gabriel in astonishment. "Do you know who?"

"No, no idea at all," he frowned, shaking his head again. "I wanted to find him, Arthur, to get the truth, but... I dunno..." Gabriel sighed, staring into the flames. "All I ever wanted was to be special, and now that I am, all I want is to be normal. If I go anywhere near them, _any_ of them, I'll go back to being what I was Eve. But I need to know who my twin is..."

"Have you looked up anything about your natural father?"

"Only that his name was David Petrelli, and he was married to a Ruth Mendip. They both died in a car accident twenty six years ago, and that's it. No mention of children, nothing."

"Could Arthur have been lying again? No," she immediately corrected, remembering Gabriel's ability to detect lies. "Records wiped?"

"It's the only thing I can think of," he sighed, shrugging ruefully. "The Petrelli's have enough power, influence _and_ money to do whatever they want."

"Do they all have powers?" Eve frowned, remembering that the senator was widely tipped for the White House.

"Angela can see into the future, although her _real_ power is being a manipulative bitch! Nathan can fly... yeah," he chuckled at her look of shock. "Arthur can take peoples powers, which makes me wonder if my father had the same, and so can..."

"So can who, Gabriel?" Eve enquired as he stopped, deep in thought.

"Peter...?" he replied, his voice a mere whisper. "No... Peter is _their_ son... isn't he?"

"You think he could be your twin? Is he the same age as you?"

Gabriel's frown deepened as he looked at her, searching her face for answers. "Yeah, I guess he is roughly my age... Peter...?"

"Is it _that_ much of a shock if he is?"

"No, actually, it would make a helluva lot of sense," Gabriel pondered, the ghost of a smile playing on his lips. "A helluva lot..."

They fell silent, each lost in their own thoughts, and it was not long before Gabriel felt Eve's head drop onto his shoulder as exhaustion overtook her. With a smile, he picked her up, his eyes raking her naked body as the blanket fell away from her, and he lay her down on the cot, before squeezing in beside her, resisting the temptation to touch her, instead covering them both with the blankets, and he listened to her steady breathing as thoughts continued to whir around in his head, until his eyes grew heavy, and he too slept.

________

Eve woke with a groan, trying to figure why she ached, and why she could not move until the fog cleared from her mind, and she felt the equally naked form of Gabriel curled around her. '_Oh shit_,' she thought, giving up any thought of trying to get up almost before they had formed. Wedged between the wall of the lodge and her companion, she was going nowhere for some time. '_What am I going to do_?' Eve wondered, relaxing, in spite of herself, into his body. '_He is a killer; he has killed fuck knows how many people. He is mixed up with God know what... what am I going to do?_ _So why do I trust him? Why is he helping me? Oh, dammit_!' she cursed silently as the argument raged within. She closed her eyes and replayed the events of the past two days in her mind, unable to believe that it had only been forty eight hours since Gabriel had entered her life; it felt like years. '_Why?_' she asked herself again. '_You mean nothing to him, so why is he helping you_? _Maybe he really does want to change. Maybe he means it when he says he does not want to go back to how he was?_ _And if he changes back to how he was and you're still around, what then, Evie_?' Eve sighed and shook her head, tensing momentarily as Gabriel stirred in his sleep. '_So, you escape from him, and then what? What you gonna do, huh? You have no money, you can't go to your old friends, not that they'd welcome you anyway; you are alone and penniless._'

"You awake?"

Eve jumped at the sound of Gabriel's voice, before chuckling ruefully at herself. "I guess I am!"

"You sleep okay?" he enquired, turning over so that he was on his back, leaving Eve with even less room and little choice but to lie against him, her head resting on his shoulder, and she wondered if he had done that deliberately.

"Like a log, surprisingly," she replied, resisting the urge to automatically put her hand on his chest, as she had with Sam so many times.

"Good," he replied, his fingers absently stroking down the length of her back.

'_Oh shit_!' Eve panicked, shifting. "Sorry, but I need to take leak..." she squeaked, all but climbing over Gabriel and flying for the door, wrapping a blanket around herself as she did, and missing his chuckle and sly grin.

"That's okay," he called after her. "You'll keep..." he added, quietly, grinning to himself.

'_Dammit!_' Eve cursed, hastily wrapping the blanket around her body in an effort to preserve her modesty, and she yanked the door open, hurrying outside and trying to catch her breath. '_For God's sake, Evie! You don't know him from Adam, and here you are... here you are, what_?' she argued. '_Here you are reacting like a normal woman when faced with a good looking, naked man? So what, Eve? It's been two years now..._' Eve made her way towards some bushes and squatted behind one of them. '_He's a..._ _if he really wanted to harm you, he'd have done so before now._' Eve sighed as she stood, pulling a face as she realised she had nothing to wipe herself with, and she headed down to the river, glad that the sun was already hot. "A bit different to how you felt the other day," she mused out loud as she dropped the blanket and stepped into the water, purring with bliss at the feel of the cool water. She glanced up at the lodge, unsurprised to see Gabriel walking down to the river, fastening his jeans as he approached, and carrying a bucket, and Eve pushed down a pang of desire as she took in his lean, muscular body, telling herself that it would _not _be a good idea.._. _especially given his past.

"They're dry, at least," he grinned as he reached the shore, indicating his jeans. He bent down and scooped up some water in the pail. "If you get out, I'll catch us breakfast."

"Why do I need to get out?" Eve frowned, wondering if it was a ruse by him to see her naked again. She gasped with shock as a ball of crackling electricity appeared in his hand. "Oh, okay..." she nodded, smiling gratefully to him as he handed her the blanket. "Try not to fry 'em too crisp..."

Gabriel laughed, "I'll try," he grinned as he squatted down and concentrated on the water, watching for any signs of a fish nearby, and shooting a thin thread from his hand when he spotted one.

"Hey! Well done!" Eve exclaimed as he waded into the water and retrieved his catch. "I'll go and see if there is anything in the woods worth eating."

"Okay; don't go too far," he warned.

"I won't," she called over her shoulder as she picked the bucket of water up and carried it to the lodge, gathering up her dry clothes and taking them inside, not wanting to give her saviour a free show.

______

"Where did you find these?" Gabriel enquired as they tucked into a mish-mash of fish that he had caught, and blueberries, chestnuts and butternuts that Eve had found in the forest.

"It's easy when you now what to look for," she shrugged. "Sam taught me."

"He was into all this living off the land shit, then?"

"Yeah," Eve snorted.

"You never wanted to come out here, did you?"

"No," she sighed, shaking her head. "He was born and bred in Pennsylvania, and had this great idea about what our lives would be like... I guess he was wrong."

"And you were left carrying the can."

"Yeah..."

"So, where you from?"

"Originally from England," she told him. "I lost my accent a _long_ time ago!"

"And you didn't want to go back, after Sam died?"

"My parents... we never really got on. They wanted a specific sort of life for me; a certain kind of husband, and I didn't want it. We haven't spoken in... nearly ten years."

"Oh..." Gabriel frowned, "I'm sorry. I know how it feels to be alone."

"Y'know..." Eve mused. "I thought Arthur Petrelli had died a couple of years back...?"

"Eh?" Gabriel frowned, momentarily thrown by the complete change of subject. "That's... what he wanted the world to think," he told her when he recovered, "including his wife who tried to poison him."

"P...? Bloody hell; you lot make the Borgia's look like the Waltons!"

"Yeah," Gabriel laughed, "just your average all American family, huh?"

"H-have you... killed anyone since you've been on the road, apart from Walt?"

Gabriel frowned and looked to the floor. "Only once," he confessed. "And now I can camouflage..."

"What else?" Eve pressed, curious in spite herself. "How many abilities _do_ you have?"

"My natural ability is intuitive aptitude; I know how things work. That's how I fixed your truck so easily. I have telekinesis, cell regeneration, alchemy, and I can generate electricity, I can detect lies, manipulate sound, dream the future, and have clairesentience."

"Claire-what?"

"I can see the history of an object by touch," Gabriel explained. "Like this hut; I can see all its previous occupants, what's happened in here, everything."

"Whoa..." Eve mused as she struggled to take it all in. "How many abilities _can _you have?"

"How long is a piece of string?" he shrugged. "Arthur has many; _too_ many, Peter probably has more than me because he literally soaks up abilities like a sponge, just by being in the presence of another power."

"Do you... _like_ having powers?"

"Yes..." he replied instantly, his face changing subtly, and Eve felt an icy cold shiver run down her spine. "And no," he added. "I have lost my abilities twice, now. After the first time, I was hell bent on regaining them. The second time, during that eclipse a few months back. I dunno... it felt as if I had been released from prison. I felt... _normal_, and it felt good." Gabriel frowned as he remembered Elle, who was with him at the time, shaking his head as he recalled how the dark side of him had regained control, and how he had killed her when she had trusted him, helped him; loved him. "I... I'd better go and see if I can get us some transport. Will you be okay a while?"

"Can't I come with you?" she frowned. "It would save you having to come all the way back down here to fetch me."

"No, I won't be long," Gabriel promised. "The main road is only a mile or so away."

"Gabriel... please don't... _hurt _anyone..."

Gabriel sighed and bent his head. "I can't promise that, Eve..." he told her, raising his head again and looking her in the eyes.

"_Please_," Eve implored. "No-one has to die because we need transport. Please, Gabriel."

"I'll see," he replied, getting to his feet and walking from the hut without looking back, her words echoing through his head.

________

Eve jumped as she heard the roar of a vehicle, and turned around from where she had been folding up their now dry spare clothes from off the bench on the porch, her eyes widening in shock as Gabriel pulled up in front of the lodge on a motorbike.

"A bike?" she exclaimed as she hurried out of the door.

"Yeah," he grinned. "You ever ridden one before?"

"Years ago; an ex boyfriend had one... you didn't...?"

"No, I didn't" he replied as he got off the machine.

"I wish I had your lie detection..." Eve sighed, looking at him.

"Eve," Gabriel began, putting his hands on her shoulders and staring intently into her eyes. "I didn't kill anyone, I swear."

"Okay..." she nodded hesitantly. "I've packed up, so we can go now if you like?"

"Good girl," he smiled, kissing her on the forehead then walking to the lodge. "We'll grab something more to eat on the road?"

"Yeah," Eve agreed as she followed him, picking up her holdall while he checked that his stash of money was still wrapped tightly in a waterproof bag, and trying to ignore the fact that she could still feel where he had kissed her.

"You're going to have to put your stuff in here," Gabriel told her, handing her his backpack. "There's no storage."

"Okay..." she sighed, taking her scant clothing and precious photo discs from her bag and stuffing them as best she could into the backpack, just about managing to fasten the zip.

"Come on, then," he urged once she had finished. "You want to wear a helmet?"

"Be a good disguise," she suggested as she took the smaller of the two helmets off Gabriel, wondering just what had happened to the previous wearer, and put it on, her fingers fumbling with the fastening until Gabriel came to her rescue, before putting his own helmet on. She accepted his help in climbing onto the back of the bike, the heavy weight of the backpack making it hard for her to keep her balance, then and wrapped her arms around him once he mounted, not yet secure enough to ride without holding on, as she had done with her former lover, years ago.

It did not take long to reach the Interstate and they headed west along route 80, not meeting much traffic along the way. Eve could not help but tense whenever she saw a police patrol, however, and she wondered if Walt Woods' body had been discovered yet, let alone the carnage at her farm. She doubted anyone would find out about her farm until the discovery of the burnt out truck, and the police turned up to question her. '_Well I won't be there, you fuckers_!' she thought angrily.

After an hour or so, Gabriel pulled into a roadside café, helping Eve off the bike and taking the load off her back, chuckling at her sigh of relief. "Sorry, but unless you can ride this thing..?" he shrugged.

"My back will never be the same again once we reach..."

"Shh!" Gabriel warned, pressing his finger against her lips, and leaving it there a fraction longer than was strictly necessary. "You never know who is listening..."

"Sorry," she apologised, chewing her lip as realisation dawned on her that she would now have to be constantly on her guard, for the foreseeable future, at least.

"It's okay; you learn not to trust anyone," Gabriel shrugged as he led the way to the entrance.

"Great..." Eve remarked, not a little sadly.

"Should be used to it, living where you did," he reminded her as he pulled open the door, allowing Eve to enter first.

"You'da thought so," she mused with a rueful smile.

"Keep your head down; don't do _anything_ to draw attention to yourself, okay?" Gabriel instructed quietly. "The first sign of trouble, run; we can deal with the aftermath later."

"Okay..." Eve sighed, shivering in spite of the heat. "Just going to the ladies. Get me whatever."

"Okay," Gabriel nodded as he sat down at a window table that was near to the door, smiling at the waitress when she appeared, and ordering an all day breakfast and pot of coffee for them both.

"Am I ready for this?" Eve grinned when she returned and sat down, putting her hand on her rumbling stomach. "Gabriel... I... I really need to know why you are going to so much trouble to help me..."

Gabriel sighed deeply and pressed his fingers to the bridge of his nose as he considered his reply. "Tell you the truth, I don't know," he shrugged. "You... kept appearing in my dreams, and then when I spotted you working in the field... I dunno," he finished, shrugging again. "Maybe I was meant to find you for some reason?" He smiled up at the waitress as she re-appeared with their order, then turned his attention back to Eve. "So, why do you trust me so much?"

"Ha!" she snorted, shaking her head. "I have absolutely no idea!" Eve pondered the question as she poured them both a mug of coffee. "I really don't know. Maybe... I can only see the man you are, not..."

"The monster I can become?"

"Something like that..." she nodded, smiling weakly. "Anyway, this food is getting cold," she declared, wanting to steer away from the subject, and they both tucked in, eating in silence.

"I'm just going to the bathroom again," Eve declared once they had finished eating, and the coffee pot was empty.

"I'll meet you outside," Gabriel nodded, standing and throwing some notes on the table to cover the bill

"Yeah, won't be long," she called over her shoulder as she disappeared through the door.

Eve kept her head down during the walk from the toilets, anxious to avoid catching anyone's attention, only looking up as she opened the exit door, searching for Gabriel and then stopping dead in her tracks, her eyes growing wide with shock. Eve turned and ran blindly, not stopping until she was well out of sight. "Oh, God..." she groaned, sliding down a wall at the back of the building, and huddling her knees up to her chest, rocking back and forth as she sobbed.

"What the hell?" Gabriel exploded when he finally found her some time later. "What the fuck is wrong with you? Eve..?" He squatted down, reaching for her, frowning as she shrunk back away from him. "Eve, what's wrong?" he asked, more gently.

"T-that... m-man..." she stuttered, too overwrought to speak clearly. "T-that... m-man..." she repeated, burying her head in her hands.

"What man? The one I was talking to? He's just a mechanic from a local garage; he's into bikes..."

"S-Sam..."

Gabriel gasped as realisation dawned on him. "Fuck! He's the one who...?"

"Y-yes!" Eve spat, not wanting him to voice the horror that was playing in her mind.

"You want me to kill him?"

Eve looked sharply at him, indecision showing clear on her face. "I..."

"Everything all right here?" a voice interrupted, and both Gabriel and Eve looked up in shock at the owner of the diner standing over them. "I heard raised voices..."

"Ah, yeah..." Gabriel began, his mind whirring to think of an excuse. "My girlfriend's mother... died, and we're ah, on our way to the funeral... she's very upset about it..."

"This true, M'am?" he enquired, watching as Gabriel helped Eve to her feet. "I can help if he's causin' you trouble?"

"Y-yes, it's t-true" she stuttered, wiping her face with the back of her hands. "I-it was just such a shock..."

"Okay, I'm sorry for your loss. Have a safe trip."

"Thanks, we will," Gabriel assured him, waving as the owner walked back around the side of the building towards the kitchen area. "Fuck...!" he gasped with relief once he was out of earshot.

"I-I guess that made my mind up for me..." Eve sniffed, fishing around in a side pocket of the backpack for some tissues, and taking a few moments to compose herself. "T-thanks anyway..."

"I can still do it," Gabriel offered.

"No! No you can't. You're trying to get away from being that person. I just... never thought I'd see him again. To think that he's been living a few miles up the road..." Eve shuddered violently, sinking gratefully into Gabriel's arms as he embraced her and held her tightly for several minutes.

Gabriel looked across at the mechanic, who was now talking to somebody else, imprinting his face to memory. '_I will find you one day_,' he promised, his face darkening. "Come on, you ready to go?"

"As I'll ever be," Eve nodded, wiping away the last of her tears. "You really are an angel, Gabriel," she joked tearfully, managing a smile as Gabriel laughed out loud.

"Yeah, fallen angel..." he snorted, shaking his head ruefully.

"You religious?" she asked as they walked to the bike, turning her head away from where she knew the mechanic to be standing.

"I was brought up to be... it was only really when all this started that I... I dunno, lost my way. You?"

"No, I've never been a believer; well, not since I've been old enough to think for myself. Before then, you kinda get brainwashed by your folks, by the church, school, whatever."

"Yeah, I guess I was only religious because my mother was devout."

"She had a strong influence on your life, didn't she?" Eve mused as Gabriel helped her on with the backpack.

"Someone once called it my _mommy_ issues..." Gabriel remarked dryly. "I suppose he was right in a way. I always felt I was never good enough because she was always wanting me to aim higher; do more; _be_ more."

"That's not a bad thing..."

"It is when you're the kid from school who always got picked on; the lonely geek with glasses who had no friends and no chance of getting a girl. I just wanted to come home and feel normal, to feel that I was okay as I was. So when I had the chance to be someone, I took it with both hands... well, with a little push from others..."

"So, say Peter really is your twin... why were you not brought up with him?" Eve asked as Gabriel helped her on to the bike.

"Ah... Arthur once told me that Angela tried to kill me as a baby; that she saw what I became and wanted rid of me. I thought it was a lie, but... who knows?"

"Who knows indeed," Eve agreed, putting on her helmet and fastening it. "Will you try to find out?"

"Maybe, maybe not; we'll see." In reality, Gabriel had done little but think about how he could find out the truth during the ride to the diner, the noise of the machine and the wind making conversation impossible. '_Maybe I will... some day_,' he mused as he revved the machine into life and started on their travels once more, giving the mechanic one last look as they rode out of the car park.

________

**Authors notes:**

As I have stated, this is my interpretation of what happened at the end of Villains, and I said to myself at the time, that Arthur had not been killed, _properly_, as it were, i.e. at the back of the head – he was shot through the forehead, so I believe that he is still alive. As for Peter being Gabriel's twin... that is something else I believe in very strongly. As Gabriel mused in this chapter, he and Peter are the same ages, they have the same power (as in taking others abilities), and it's just such a delicious thought! As for him taking Angela's dream ability; Gabriel learned to access abilities through empathy, but what is empathy if not emotion, and the scene with Angela in Duality was very highly charged with emotion.


	4. Chapter 4

I do not own any character from the series of Heroes, and neither do I make any monies from the writing of this story. It is purely for my, and hopefully your, enjoyment.

________

**Chapter Four**

Eve breathed a sigh of relief as Gabriel pulled into a motel just outside of Cleveland, and she leaned against his back, feeling too tired to support herself upright. The shock of seeing her husbands killer had preyed on her mind throughout the whole journey, and coupled with her doubts about the man who had come to her rescue, had drained her both mentally and physically.

"You okay?" Gabriel asked as he killed the engine.

"I will be," she replied wearily, accepting his help off the machine. She groaned as he eased the straps of the backpack from her shoulders, and massaged her neck as Gabriel went to the reception to book a room. '_Two rooms_,' she urged silently, not entirely trusting herself if they slept naked again, despite her misgivings. "You get two rooms?" she demanded as soon as he stepped out of the reception area.

"No, one... it's safer that way," Gabriel explained, smiling inwardly at her obvious discomfort at having to share with him again. "I got shower gel and body lotion..." he tempted, holding up a small bag containing his purchases from the reception.

"Angel Gabriel, indeed," Eve smiled, her worry at sharing a room, and indeed about what sort of person Gabriel truly was, temporarily forgotten.

Ah... room ten," Gabriel told her after looking at the room key to remind himself of which room it was, and he lead the way, carrying the heavy pack. "You have a shower first," he offered as he opened the door. "I'll get us some food."

"Okay, thanks," Eve nodded, waiting until he had left the room before hurriedly stripping off and grabbing the shower gel and sponge, which Gabriel had also purchased, and headed for the small bathroom off the side, groaning with pleasure as she turned the unit on and felt the reviving hot water wash over her.

Gabriel sighed with disappointment when he returned, to find Eve towelling dry her hair, already washed and changed into her spare clothes, even though he had not been long getting the food from a burger bar across the street. "That was quick," he mused, putting the paper bags and polystyrene trays on the double bed.

"Yeah, I didn't want to use all the hot water," she lied. "I know how quickly it runs out in these places."

"Thanks," he nodded as he shared out the burgers, fries and drinks, glancing at her with a rueful smile. "We should hit Chicago tomorrow."

"Yeah... are you sure it's a good idea?" Eve fretted. "Wouldn't it be better to go to a smaller backwater town?"

"Who hate strangers... remember when we stopped at... Bellfonte? The cop who questioned us just because we'd pulled over for a while? You can lose yourself better in a city."

"I guess so," Eve agreed. "You said... that you had a _push_ to become... you know. Who did it, and why?" she frowned.

"Ah, Eve... you sure like to change the subject!" Gabriel chuckled. "That is a long, _long_ story and I'm hungry and need a shower."

"Okay," she nodded, falling silent as she ate her burger.

"If you really want to know, I'll tell you about it tomorrow, yeah?"

"Only if you want to..."

"Eve," Gabriel began, "I will tell you anything to make you trust me, okay?"

"You can't really blame me for being a little scared... you've _killed_ people... I know that you've had opportunity to hurt me, but..."

"You remember I told you that I could dream the future; a gift from my dear _mother_. You also remember that I told you that you kept appearing in my dreams? This is meant to be, Eve; don't ask me why, I just know that you're supposed to be a part of my life."

"And if I don't want to be?" she gulped, wishing that she had sat on the chair in the corner of the room, and not on the bed next to him.

"Let's get to Chicago and see what happens, hmm?"

"Okay," Eve nodded, tensing as Gabriel reached for her, torn between wanting to give in to the inevitable, and wanting to run.

"I won't hurt you," Gabriel murmured as his lips closed in on hers, his hand snaking around the back of her head to stop her from pulling away, and he pushed her down on the bed, covering her body with his own.

"Gabriel..." Eve protested, trying to break free from his kiss. "Please..."

"Shhh," he soothed, cupping her breast with his free hand, a mild electric current running through his fingers as he tweaked her nipple, heightening the sensation for her. "It's okay, Eve, everything's going to be okay," he whispered as she groaned with pleasure.

________

Eve opened one eye then the other, and moaned softly as her body ached. She smiled to herself as she felt Gabriel's body curled around hers in a possessive embrace, and she closed her eyes again, not wanting reality to cast its shadow over the blissful, peaceful moment. That could come later. Her mind drifted to the previous night and their loving that had lasted well into the early hours, and she wondered what the time was. Eve opened her eyes again, picking up Gabriel's wrist to look at his watch and frowning when she saw it was not only broken, but smashed.

'_Weird_,' she mused to herself, giggling as his finger flicked the tip of her nose. "Morning," she greeted sleepily.

"Is it? Damn!" Gabriel murmured. "I was hoping the night would never end."

"Same here," she sighed, turning over to face him, brushing hair from his eyes, then capturing his lower lip between hers, gently sucking on it. "We could always stay here one more day...?"

"Why not forever?" Gabriel teased as he pulled her on top of him, his fingers tracing down her spine.

"Because I'd want a bed that is a darn sight more comfortable than this thing!" Eve grinned.

Gabriel smiled as he kissed her before breaking away and shaking his head slowly. "We need to put a few more miles distance in," he sighed. "Disappear first, then we can spend as long as we want in bed, hmm?"

"Okay," Eve nodded with a rueful smile, and she rolled off him and sat on the edge of the bed, groaning as her body protested again at the movement.

"I didn't mean right away," he chuckled, sitting up and wrapping his arms around her, preventing her from standing. "There's plenty of time," he murmured as he nuzzled her neck. "Chicago can wait a little while longer...."

"You wanna share a shower?" Eve suggested, running her hands along his arms and lacing her fingers through his. "Save on hot water..."

"Mmm..." Gabriel purred, nipping the soft flesh between her neck and shoulder, then licking it better. "And shower gel, being as _somebody_ used most of it last night..."

"I did not!" Eve protested, pushing him back down on the bed and turning over, playfully beating his chest with her fists.

"Did too!" he teased, grabbing her wrists and rolling them both over so that he was on top. "But I'm sure you can find a way to make it up to me..."

"I'm sure I can..." Eve breathed, reaching up and kissing him hungrily, not wanting to face up to reality yet a while.

**________**

'_I can't believe I am acting like this_,' Eve mused as she waited outside a grocery store for Gabriel. '_I am screwing a man I have known for a few days; a man I know to be a killer. I am on the run, I am homeless, penniless, and I am letting him totally run my life. I'm going to have to get away... but how?'_

"You okay, Eve?" Gabriel asked as he walked over to her, carrying a box of supplies. "You were miles away."

"Yeah... a lot's happened," she evaded. "I guess I'm trying to take it all in."

"I know," he sympathised, kissing the top of her head as they began walking back to the motel. "Things will settle down once we reach Chicago."

"What are we going to do when we get there?" Eve frowned.

"You mean when we're not in bed...?" Gabriel teased.

"Yeah!" she laughed nervously. "Seriously, though. We don't know each other, Gabriel. It might not work out, or..."

"Or what, Eve? I might go back to what I was?"

"Yeah," Eve frowned, glancing at him. "I... I'm scared. Of the future, of... _you_... I just don't know what I'm going to do."

"You're going to stop worrying," Gabriel replied, stopping and taking her hand. "I'm _not_ going back to what I was; I'm going to take care of you."

"Why?" she demanded. "Because of some dream? I just don't know, Gabriel..."

"I have seen and done many weird things," Gabriel mused, casting his mind back over the past two years as they started to walk again. "Life, the world, just isn't the same any more. When the general public start to realise that there are people out there who can do things... I dunno what will happen."

"I've heard rumours..." Eve began. "That they're rounding up people... like the Nazi's did to the Jews..."

"Who are?" Gabriel demanded, looking sharply at her. "_Who_?"

"The government..." she fretted, chewing her lip. "It's just rumours, but..."

"But you think they're taking people with powers?" he frowned.

"Yeah," Eve nodded. "You think it's a good idea to go to a city?"

"And you don't think a small town would turn someone with powers in, twice as fast?"

"True."

"No, we'll head for Chicago, but we'll keep our heads down and noses clean, okay?"

"Okay..." she replied hesitantly.

"I had thought of starting a riot or two," Gabriel teased, reaching down and kissing her. "But if you want the quiet life, the quiet life you shall have! It's going to be okay, Eve," he assured her as she looked at him nervously, "no-one can stop me..."

"Dammit!" Officer Emanuel Hernandez cursed as his request for back up was turned down due to a hold up at a bank in the centre of town. "Don't they know how dangerous this guy is?" he wondered aloud as he watched Gabriel and Eve walk back towards the motel. "It's Sylar, dammit!" Hernandez had taken a particular interest in the notorious serial killer after a cousin of his, also in the force, had been killed by the man. '_Well fuck you all; I'll get him myself_,' he thought angrily as he started to tail the couple.

"So, we going to start out first thing tomorrow, or travel through the night?" Eve asked once she and Gabriel had got back to their room.

"We'll head off first thing," Gabriel decided. "See if we can't get some sleep tonight, huh?" he winked.

"So... what does that leave us to do today?" Eve asked with a glint in her eyes.

Gabriel grinned and opened his mouth to reply, frowning as someone knocked on the door. "Go to the bathroom," he ordered quietly, waiting until Eve was out of sight before going to the door. "Okay, okay!" he protested as the person hammered more persistently. He cursed as he realised there was no spyhole in the door, and opened it a crack, drawing in a breath as he was confronted by a police officer aiming a gun right at his face.

"Open the door!" the officer shouted, shoving it open with his free hand. "Turn around and put your hands on your head; slowly!"

"What's the problem, officer?" Gabriel enquired in an even voice as he did as he was told.

"I know just exactly who you are! Now git against the wall. Git! Where's the woman?"

Gabriel winced as Hernandez slammed him against the wall, in two minds whether to fight back or let the scene play out a while. "She's gone to reception; she'll be back soon..."

"Not so clever now, are we, _Sylar?_" the officer taunted as he snapped his cuffs expertly on to the wrists of the criminal , whilst keeping hold of his gun, aiming it at the back of Gabriel's head when he had finished.

"My name is not Sylar," Gabriel replied, starting to turn to face the policeman.

"Stop!" Hernandez ordered. "Turn back, _now!"_

Eve gasped as she watched, her eyes growing wide with terror as the officer's finger started to squeeze on the trigger.

"I'm going to kill you," Hernandez spat. "I can claim it was self defence; I'll be a hero!"

Eve carefully opened the door and reached into the box of groceries, pulling out the first thing to hand, which was a bottle of wine. She took a step forward and smashed it against the police officers head, gasping as he fell sideways and banged his head against the corner of the chest of drawers.

"_Eve!"_ Gabriel screamed as he spun around, using his power to unlock the cuffs, which fell from his wrists. "What the fuck did you do that for?"

"I... I don't k-know," Eve gasped, looking in horror at the prone figure of the police officer on the floor. "Is... he...?"

Gabriel bent down with an exasperated sigh and felt for a pulse, shaking his head when he found none. "I can't die, Eve! You _know _that!" he exploded as he stood and faced her. "You should've let me take the shot!"

"I didn't think, all right?" she yelled, shoving Gabriel in the chest. "I just... didn't think!"

"Get your things; we're going to have to go, _now_!"

"I-I'm n-not going w-with you..." Eve stammered. "I don't want all of this!"

"Well you should've thought of that before you brained the bastard!"

"H-he knew who y-you were... you'll g-get the blame for it..."

"Oh gee, thanks, Eve...!" Gabriel snarked.

"What's one more, huh? What's another count to your tally, Gabriel?"

"It still won't change the fact that it was _you_ who killed him, Eve, not me..." he crooned menacingly, his face inches from hers. "Now by the police's reckoning, that's three people you've killed, although they can't prove your husband or that jerk I saved you from. But what do you think they'll do to you, Eve, killing a cop? Slap your wrist and tell you what a naughty girl you've been? No, it'd be death row for you..."

"N-no..." Eve gasped.

"Eve..." Gabriel sighed, his voice now gentle and calm as he reached for her, frowning as she flinched and pulled away. "What will you do, hmm? You'll end up on the streets, selling yourself for food and shelter, that's if a pimp doesn't find you first; then you'd be selling yourself for the next fix. Do you want that, Eve, hmm? Because I don't want that for you... I just wanna look after you, _help_ you."

"I should have stayed at the farm," she gulped, fighting against the hysteria that threatened to overwhelm her. "Why did you make me come with you?"

"I didn't, Eve; you came of your own free will. In fact, you even told me to set fire to your house so that no-one could take anything from you, remember?"

"I wasn't thinking straight!" Eve screamed, launching herself at Gabriel, struggling as he took her in his arms and held her tightly, whispering soothing noises as she gave in to the tears.

"Come on, Eve," Gabriel urged after a few minutes. "Someone might have heard all that; we have to go."

Eve tensed, still fighting the urge to run away; to pretend that the past two days had never happened, but she knew that was impossible. "Okay," she eventually conceded, pulling from his embrace and went to the bathroom, splashing cold water on her face.

"Maybe I should have tried to help you stay at the farm," Gabriel offered as he watched her from the doorway. "I guess I'm just too used to running when trouble hits... sorry."

"I was held in the county jail for three days as they tried to get me to admit that I killed Sam," Eve sighed. "It was only Mario, the guy who collects the milk twice a week, looking after the animals for me, otherwise they'd have died and I'd have gone under. You're right, Gabriel, they _would_ have found some way of linking me to Walt's death. Maybe it hadn't rained as much back home; maybe they could have followed the tire tracks to and from the farm? It doesn't really matter now, does it?" she mused, looking at the dead body of the policeman. "Que sera, sera..."

"Y'know...?" Gabriel mused wryly as he stroked her face. "You probably saved my life back there..."

"How, I thought... oh! If he had shot you in the back of the head...?"

"...I'd have died," Gabriel finished. "Thank you."

"Call it quits," Eve shrugged with a nonchalance she did not feel. She busied herself with packing, taking bottled water from the box of groceries and shoving them in the backpack.

"Come on Eve, we have to go," Gabriel chivvied, breaking her thoughts.

"Okay, I'm ready," she nodded, taking a last regretful look at the body before shutting the door behind them, unable to believe that no-one had seemed to have heard the commotion. She put it down to it being mid-morning and people going about their business rather than being in their motel rooms.

"Shit!" Gabriel cursed, as the key to the bike fell from his hand and down a drain. He tried to bring them back up using his telekinesis power, glowering at the drain when they did not re-appear.

"Where are they?" Eve fretted, a panicked look in her eyes.

"I don't know!" Gabriel hissed, trying again to bring them up to no avail. His anger turned to astonishment as Eve knelt down beside the drain and closed her eyes.

"T-they're caught on a twig," she whispered hesitantly. "If you can move them up a little, then forward, they should come free."

Gabriel's mouth formed words that did not come, but he did as he was bade, watching her carefully and with consideration.

"They're free!" Eve breathed, opening her eyes and reaching through the slots in the drain as the keys neared the top, grasping them in her hand and pulling it free.

"How...?" he gasped, looking at her in bewilderment.

"I..." Eve gulped, unable to look him in the eyes. "I never told anyone," she whispered, "not even Sam..."

"You can...?"

"I can _see_ anything; even if it is not in sight..." Eve flinched as Gabriel reached for her, closing her eyes as she waited for the expected pain as he killed her for her ability.

"Eve...?" Gabriel gasped, his voice catching as he realised her fear, and how she had trusted him despite it. "Eve, I'm not going to hurt you," he swore, tilting her head so that she was facing him, albeit with her eyes still firmly shut. He gently pressed his lips against her forehead and wrapped his arms around her, holding her tightly.

Eve gulped down a sob, wanting nothing more than to return the embrace, but still terrified that it would be the last thing that she would do.

"I can see inside the room..." Gabriel mused incredulously, seeing in his minds eye the room they had just vacated. He concentrated on the next room, grinning as he saw the layout of that room also, right down to the pile of dirty linen on the floor at the foot of the bed. He broke away from her and wiped away her tears. "I told you, I don't need to kill any more."

"What?" Eve gasped, her eyes wide as she stared in to his, looking for any sign of a lie.

"I have your power, Eve; _now_ will you trust me?" he smiled, brushing his lips against hers.

"I will try," she whispered, managing a small smile. "C-come on, let's go."

"Yeah," he agreed, taking a look around to see if anyone had been watching them as he helped Eve on with the backpack, and then onto the bike, before climbing on himself, firing the machine into life and roaring out of the car park.

'_I killed a man_,' Eve thought as they hit the highway and Gabriel accelerated, eager to get away from the motel. '_I'm a killer..._' she shuddered and leaned her head against Gabriel's back, closing her eyes. '_What is happening to me_?'


	5. Chapter 5

I do not own any character from the series of Heroes, and neither do I make any monies from the writing of this story. It is purely for my, and hopefully your, enjoyment.

________

**One month later**

Eve paused in her step as she heard the chant of a crowd, and looked up, frowning as she saw a demonstration up ahead of her as she walked through Archer Park, and she wondered whether to turn around and avoid it, but curiosity got the better of her and she started walking again, keeping a look out for any trouble.

"What's this about?" she asked a young man in a multi-coloured beanie hat who was standing on the fringes of the crowd and holding up a placard.

"We're trying to stop our government from being no better than the Nazi's!" he told her. "They're locking innocent people up with no trial, no appeal, nothing!"

"Really?" Eve replied, feigning shock and wishing that she had walked away and ignored her inquisitiveness. But she still felt a small burn of anger in her stomach at the situation, and wished there was something she could do.

"We're holding a rally outside the Mayor's office tomorrow from eleven. Join us," he urged.

"I might," she nodded, smiling as she started on her way once more, the journey back to the apartment she shared with Gabriel, taken by her growing sense of injustice and fear, for once they had settled in Archer Heights, Gabriel had got her to practise using her power; something she hated doing to start with, feeling as if it were wrong; as if she really were a freak. But the more she found she could do, and the more Gabriel showed her his own abilities, the more accepting she was starting to become.

She paused again as she saw Gabriel helping an elderly neighbour with her shopping, and tried to reconcile the man she had come to know with what he had hinted at, shaking her head as yet again, she could not. But still the niggle of doubt would not go away entirely, and more than once, especially when they had first arrived in the city, Eve had thought of running away; taking her chances on her own with some of the money Gabriel made through his alchemy power, but despite all of her fears, she was already growing very fond of him. She smiled and waved as Gabriel spotted her, and hurried across the road.

"Hi!" she greeted, reaching over and kissing him on the cheek. "Hello Mrs. Foster," she added, smiling at the old woman.

"Hello dear. I hope you appreciate what a thoughtful young man you have?"

"Ha! I'll try and remember that the next time he leaves the wet towels all over the bathroom floor!" Eve laughed, nudging Gabriel in the ribs as he stuck out his tongue at her.

"There's none of us perfect," Mrs. Foster shrugged as they reached her door and waited while she unlocked it. "We've all got to have our imperfections, that's what makes us human."

"Try telling that to the government," Eve muttered quietly, drawing a sharp glance off Gabriel.

"What was that, dear? My hearing's gone to pot now I'm old."

"Do you want us to carry your shopping in?" Eve evaded.

"No, I can manage it from here. Thank you, Gabriel," she smiled. "I'll make you one of my roast dinners next Sunday."

"There's no need, Mrs. Foster..." he began.

"Nonsense! Now my boys are grown up and moved away, I have no-one else to cook for." She picked up her bags and carried them into her hallway, waving at them both as she shut the door.

"Will you mind what you say!" Gabriel hissed, glaring angrily at Eve. "It only takes one careless word..."

"Sorry," Eve frowned, "but come on! We don't live in a police state."

"You reckon?" he snorted. "Give it time..."

"I... came across a protest against the programme, in the park. There's going to be another one outside the Mayors office tomorrow..."

"No!" Gabriel interrupted forcefully. "You are _not_ taking part!"

"Who the fuck made you my keeper?" Eve hissed, trying to keep her voice low. "You don't own me, Gabriel!"

"Don't you think that _they_ won't be watching who takes part in these rallies? Don't you think that's how they're finding so many of us, hmm?"

"Not everyone who takes part in the demonstrations have powers!" she insisted, glowering at him as he stood in front of her, blocking her way. "In fact, I doubt if many of them do..."

"For the very reason you aren't going to either!" Gabriel insisted, putting his hands on her shoulders. "It's far too dangerous, Eve. If you go, then I'd have to, and we both know that's not a good idea, hmm? Come on," he smiled, taking her hand and leading the way up the steps to the front door of their apartment block. "Did you get that job?" he asked, changing the subject.

"Yeah," Eve sighed, her earlier pleasure at having found a part time job in a local grocery store, evaporated by their disagreement.

"That's great! You'll feel better getting out of the apartment for a few hours," he insisted, ignoring her obvious despondency.

"I guess so," she replied flatly, following him into the building and up the flight of stairs to their first floor flat. Although they had more than enough money to live on, they both felt it best to keep as low a profile as possible to avoid drawing attention to themselves, and so had taken an average apartment in a fairly respectable area, and had been looking for work, to keep up the appearance.

"Don't you care about what happens to other people like us?" Eve questioned once Gabriel had shut the door to their flat. "No, I guess you don't..." she added, thinking of how he killed people for their powers.

"All I care about right now, is keeping us safe and out of sight, okay? And taking part in high profile demonstrations is _not_ going to help."

"And what if they come for us, Gabriel? What if someone recognises you, _me_?"

"They won't, that's why we're living here, so that we blend in," he insisted. "Besides, they don't know you have powers, and I can look after myself."

"By killing them all?" Eve snapped. "Way to blend in..."

"Why is it so damned important that you take part in the protest, huh?" Gabriel demanded, his voice rising. "You really think it's gonna make a difference; that the government will suddenly have a change of heart because you said so? Stop being so fucking naïve!"

"I am not naïve!" she rejoined angrily.

"Yeah? So why have I had to look after you every step of the way? Why have I been the one to make the decisions the whole damn time, Eve?"

"Fine! If you want me to stand on my own two feet, then I will, starting by moving out!"

"And go where? What you gonna live on, hmm? Or did you think about taking some of my money... perhaps do a runner?"

Eve blanched as she wondered if Gabriel had a mind reading ability that he had kept quiet about. "You call me naïve, and yet you never ask me what I want, or if I have an idea," she accused. "You just take over, do what _you_ think is best, and expect me to fall in like an obedient little puppy!"

"I have more experience of avoiding the authorities than you do," he reminded her.

"Yeah... and now I'm going to have to learn, aren't I?"

"Maybe you should've stayed at the farm, Eve...?" Gabriel growled. "Maybe I should've left you to explain everything away, hmm? All _your_ animals shot, and a man _you_ owed money to lying dead of a broken neck in _your_ yard... they'd have had a field day with that, Eve!"

"So you saved me!" she sniped. "How long before my debt to you is repaid, Gabriel? Or perhaps you just like having a compliant woman; keeping someone so scared of you that they will do anything you ask...?"

"_What_?" Gabriel exploded, looking at her in bewilderment. "What the fuck have I done to scare you, Eve? _What_?"

"You've told me all about yourself, Gabriel!" Eve yelled. "Anyone else would've kept their dark, dirty secrets just that! You told me what you are! You've hinted at what you've done to people, and why, huh? To keep me in check? To stop me from running in case you came after me?"

Gabriel stared at her incredulously for a few moments, before shaking his head and snorting derisively. "Yeah... you were really scared of me last night, Evie, and all the other times we've made love! Fine, if you want to leave, then just go! Get out!"

Eve stared as Gabriel stormed to their bedroom, wincing as he slammed the door hard enough to make the apartment shake, and she found herself trembling with shock, tears welling in her eyes. '_Oh, God, what have I done_?' she gulped, wanting to follow him, but finding herself frozen to the spot. Taking a deep breath, she hesitantly walked towards the shut door, chewing her lip as she heard things banging around the room.

"G-Gabriel...?" she croaked, her voice barely more than a whisper. "Gabriel... I'm s-sorry..."

"What? You scared you won't make it on your own?" he taunted from within the room. "Afraid of standing on your own two feet?"

Eve sighed and leaned against the door frame before sliding down it, the tears falling down her cheeks. "Y-yes..." she stammered, yelping with fright as the door was yanked open. "I-I'm s-sorry, Gabriel... please..." she begged as he squatted down to face her, his deep brown eyes boring into hers.

"Please what?" Gabriel asked harshly. "Please continue to look after me? Please don't hurt me? What, Eve? Please _what_?"

"F-forgive m-me," she whispered. "I didn't mean it."

"You really didn't mean it, or you're scared I'm gonna kick you out, didn't mean it?" he questioned as he straightened up and looked down at her.

"Gabriel!" Eve protested. "What about you, eh?" she snapped, scrambling to her feet and glowering at him as she stood up to him, literally and metaphorically. "Do you want me for me, or just because of some dream you had, huh? _Well_?" she demanded, shoving him in the chest. "Would have you even done half of what you've done for me, or would I have been dead long before now, if you hadn't had some _vision_?"

"I keep telling you that I don't kill any more, but for some reason you never believe me!" Gabriel snarled, turning to go back in to the bedroom until Eve grabbed his arm and yanked him back.

"A leopard doesn't change its spots that quickly!" she accused, her anger turning to shock then fear as she suddenly found herself pinned against the wall by an invisible force, the look of horror on her face matched by Gabriel's as he realised what he had done and released her immediately.

"E-Eve..." he gulped, taking a step towards her, frowning as she shied away. "Oh, God, Eve, I'm sorry, I..."

"Didn't mean to?" Eve cut in, her voice brittle with fear.

"Please, Eve," Gabriel begged, "please don't go."

Eve hurried past Gabriel to the bedroom, grabbing a handful of clothes from the wardrobe, intent on throwing them into a luggage bag, but she could not get the image of his tear filled eyes from her mind, and she glanced at him, still in the hallway, his head bent dejectedly, and she closed her eyes with a deep sigh as she tried to decide what to do.

"I'm sorry."

Eve opened her eyes again and looked into Gabriel's as he stood in front of her, and she rested her head against his chest, knowing, deep down, that she was not going to leave him. She smiled softly as he wrapped his arms around her, and they stood for several minutes in silence, until Gabriel tilted her head up and gently kissed her.

"I'll never do that again," he swore when they broke away.

"My grandmother always taught me never to make promises you weren't absolutely certain that you could keep," Eve smiled weakly as she wiped a stray tear from her cheek.

"Okay, I swear to _try_ not to do that again," Gabriel corrected with a rueful smile as he bent to kiss her once more, deepening the kiss and crushing her body against his.

"Better," Eve murmured as she pushed him towards the bed, squealing as Gabriel fell backwards onto the bed, taking her with him.

________

"Why did you choose this path, Gabriel?" Eve mused as she lay in his arms, idly stroking the hairs on his chest. "After Arthur had rescued you; why didn't you go all out for revenge?"

Gabriel frowned as his mind formulated an answer, unsure as to whether he really understood himself. "I was hiding from whoever was searching; police, firemen, I don't know... and I was boiling with rage. All I wanted to do was find those I had held captive and kill them all, one by one, starting with Angela." He fell silent as he remembered how he felt at the time; the hatred that was eating at him. "My mind was going crazy trying to think of the best way to get to them right there and then, when I knew the place was crawling with people. Two men came too close and I... killed them; I was about to go and take out the rest of them; take out anyone who came anywhere near me... I'd never known anger like it before, Eve. And then... I don't know... it all just seemed to dissolve away, and I felt so calm... so peaceful... it was like I had some sort of epiphany. I knew it was either destroy everything, including myself, or get away, far away."

"And you did," she smiled, propping herself up and kissing his lips.

"I ran all night and most of the following day, sleeping rough in some derelict building," Gabriel continued as Eve nestled back in his embrace, "and that was the first time you appeared in my dreams."

"What did you see?"

"It would be just your face at first, but then I'd start to see you in various places, different scenarios, but the one I dreamed the most..." he hesitated, unsure as to whether to tell Eve or not; unsure as to her reaction.

"Yes...? Come on, Gabriel! You can't tease me like this!"

"You... were surrounded by children... _my_ children..."

"Oh. Dare I ask how many children?" Eve enquired, surprised to find that her heart was hammering.

"I dunno... several..."

"Several?" she repeated. "_Several_?"

"Would it be that surprising given how much time we spend...?"

"...going at it like rabbits!" Eve giggled. "I guess I'm surprised that we, I dunno."

"Stay together long enough to have several kids?" Gabriel queried.

"Something like that," she nodded. "Is it just the same scene that you see?"

"No, I see you all in a kitchen, in a park, you curled up with a couple of them on a settee; loads of different places."

"Where are you?"

"I guess I'm viewing the scene through my own eyes."

"So how did you know where to find me?"

"I didn't, I just knew I would," he shrugged, nuzzling the top of her head.

"Several children..." Eve mused, frowning with bemusement as she tried to comprehend it. "I guess we'd better get some more practise in at making them, then..."

"Yeah; practise makes perfect after all," Gabriel grinned as he rolled them both over, claiming her body once more.

________


	6. Chapter 6

I do not own any character from the series of Heroes, and neither do I make any monies from the writing of this story. It is purely for my, and hopefully your, enjoyment.

Apologies for the long wait between chapters – real life intrudes waaaay too much ;) Is Sylar/Gabriel's story in Fugitives getting better and better? I adored the episode between him and his father – brilliant!

Thanks to those who have reviewed or added my story to your favourites list – they are much appreciated. This chapter is set two months after the last one. One last thing, then I'll shut up! The story gets a bit spoiler-ish from now on, as it takes in some things that are happening in Fugitives.

________

**Chapter six**

Eve quietly padded across the bedroom, glancing at Gabriel to ensure he was still asleep, before getting her clothes together and dressing.

"Hmm?" came a muffled enquiry from the bed, and Eve sat on the edge, leaning over to kiss his head.

"Go back to sleep; I told you I was going in early today. Mister Ali has to take his wife to the hospital, remember?"

"Mmm..." Gabriel replied sleepily.

"I should be back around mid-afternoon, okay? You going to the workshop?"

"Nah..."

"Okay, I'll see you later, then," Eve chuckled, kissing his head again before ruffling his hair. "Lazy bastard..."

Eve grabbed her coat, hat and gloves and hurried out of the door, knowing that Mister Ali would provide her with coffee and breakfast, so she did not bother making herself any. Both she and Gabriel had settled well in the Archer Heights district of the city; Eve working part time in a local grocery store, and Gabriel helping out in a workshop, teaching how to repair clocks and watches. Eve had been astonished when he had told her of his expertise, and she had asked him about his broken watch, teasing him when he told her that superstition prevented him from repairing it. The feeling of security and contentment that she had been feeling during the past few weeks had dissipated somewhat when she had read an article in a magazine, during a quiet period at work, about the serial killer Sylar, and she had remembered the same name on his watch, and felt that she had heard the name somewhere before, but couldn't put her finger on it, and Eve fretted that he and Gabriel were one and the same person, and wondered whether to confront him about it before deciding that ignorance was bliss. But a small voice nagging at the back of her mind persisted in asking her just how long she intended on keeping her head buried in the sand. Especially now.

Eve sighed as she thought of the pregnancy testing kit safely ensconced in her bag, and knew that she would not be able to put off testing herself any longer. She had already missed one period and was near to the time when she would be due on again, but she knew in her heart that she did not need to do the test. '_What am I going to do_...?' she worried, her hand automatically going to her belly. '_What if he really is this guy_?'

Eve frowned as a black van pulled in just ahead of her, and she faltered in her step, turning and making to run as the back burst open and several figures, clad all in black, with masks over their faces, jumped out, all of them aiming weapons at her.

"Help!" she screamed, as one of the men fired.

________

Gabriel glanced at the clock, racking his brain to try and remember exactly what time Eve said that she would be home, but he was certain it would have been before now. He tried her cell once more, sighing with part anger, part panic when it went to voicemail again. '_Fuck, Eve! Where are you?_' He grabbed his coat and headed out of the apartment, telling himself that he was over-reacting, and that he would meet her on her way home. He prayed that would be the case.

Gabriel glanced up at the darkening sky, which threatened snow, pulled his collar up, shoved his hands in his pockets and hunched up against the chill wind that blew in straight off the water.

"Mister! Mister!" a voice behind him called, and Gabriel tensed up, ready for trouble.

"Yeah?" he enquired as he turned to face a Hispanic man.

"Your wife; I saw her! These men took her in a van."

"_What_?" Gabriel exploded, taking a step towards the him, then backing off when fear across the much smaller man's face. "When?"

"This morning; first thing. It was still dark, but I heard someone scream and I looked out the window and saw them take her."

"And you never did anything until now?" Gabriel yelled, clenching his fists inside his pockets to stop himself sending the man flying through the air.

"I-I didn't know where you lived; and the police... they don't do nothing."

"Fuck!" Gabriel cursed, wishing that he had acted on his instinct when he had thought he'd heard someone shout not long after Eve had left for work, but had instead turned over and pulled the covers up. He watched as the man scurried back into his own apartment, glancing warily at Gabriel as he closed the door and threw several locks, and Gabriel stood there for a few minutes, trying to formulate a plan in his whirring mind.

_'Who would've taken her?_' he frowned, knowing the answer almost before the question had formulated. There had been almost daily news bulletins about people disappearing off the streets amidst rumours that some people had special abilities, and the government were the ones behind the disappearance, especially as Senator Nathan Petrelli had appeared on television several times warning against a serious threat to national security, but the government strenuously denied any knowledge of the so-called disappearances.

'_So where would the facility be_?' he mused, heading back to the apartment and to the computer, figuring that if you needed to find anything out, the internet was the best place to do it.

________

"Are you okay...?"

Eve shrank back at the sound of the voice until she realised it was a woman, and she uncurled herself a little from the foetal position she was in and looked up, nodding at the young blonde woman bending down over her.

"God, what have they done to you...?" the woman gasped, seeing Eve's bruised face.

"I guess I struggled too much," she croaked, closing her eyes and shuddering at the memory of her treatment when she arrived at the detention centre and had been taken off the drugs they had been keeping her docile with, and forcibly strip searched her, beating her as punishment for fighting so hard.

"You should never do that," the blonde fretted, "it only makes things worse.

"Yeah... tell me something I don't know," Eve replied bitterly. "You know where we are?"

"I have no idea; I got moved about from place to place, but I don't think they do that with everyone."

"They fly us in from all over the country, sweetheart," another voice butted in. "Marie says she caught a glimpse of the place as they herded her and some others in, and it's huge."

Eve nodded again and tried to sit up, gasping as a sharp pain shot through her abdomen. "Fuck!" she swore, clinging to the blonde as the pain continued.

"Have you broken something?" the woman worried.

"No..." Eve panted. "M-my... baby..."

"Oh, God; you're pregnant?"

"Okay; screen her off from those bastards," another woman ordered.

"We _need_ a doctor!" the blonde cried, looking from the woman still grasping her arm, tears rolling down her swollen cheeks, to the black woman approaching them.

"I _am_ a doctor," she shrugged. "And if you mean _them_, who the hell do you think did this to her, sweetheart?" She looked at Eve, sighing as she saw a dark red stain appearing on the orange boilersuit that they had all been dressed in. "My name is Marsha," she smiled, stroking Eve's head. "I'll do what I can to help."

"I-I'm Claire..." the blonde added, squeezing Eve's hand. "If you want me to go...?"

"N-no... E-Eve..."

"Okay, Claire, I want you to help me get this off," Marsha instructed, smiling thanks as several women in the large holding cell formed a line, blocking the view from the large window that dominated the cell, so that the patrolling guards outside could not see what was happening; although they doubted it would be long before the guards would become suspicious and burst in.

"My baby...!" Eve sobbed, her cries turning to a gasp as the pain increased. "O-oh... God..."

"I hope to God they haven't ruptured anything," Marsha sighed quietly, exchanging worried glances with Claire and they removed Eve's jeans as carefully as they could.

"If they have?" Claire whispered, gulping when Marsha shook her head.

________

Gabriel watched, through a pair of binoculars, the comings and goings at the large building complex, some mile or so away, noting the razor fencing, and heavy guard presence, certain that he had found the right place. He had spent most of the previous few days trying to find out where the government took those they captured, to no avail. It was only when he had gone for a walk to clear his head, and had come across a demonstration against the programme, that he had found out that there were rumoured to be just three facilities, one in the wilds of Montana, one in the state of Utah, and this in the middle of the Arizonan desert, which he had seen in several dreams that were, or so he had thought, unrelated to Eve. He prayed that this was where they had taken her, and that they did not know her connection to him. Gabriel tensed as he heard a noise, grateful for the camouflage power that he had taken from a woman in Maryland, but he almost blew his cover as two figures passed close by, such was his surprise.

"Well, well, well..." he mused, breaking his cover and chuckling as Noah Bennet and the Haitian spun around, Bennet aiming a gun unerringly straight at his head.

"You! What the hell are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing..." Gabriel replied laconically.

"Well, being as I'm the one with a gun and the Haitian, you get to answer first," Bennet replied, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

Gabriel sighed heavily, shaking his head as he mused on whether he could take them both on with his powers blocked, before deciding against it. "They have my girlfriend..." he eventually replied.

"Your... _girlfriend_?" Noah snorted incredulously. "You mean she's lasted a little longer than Elle did?"

"I'm guessing they have Claire, right?" Gabriel mused, ignoring the barb.

"They've been moving her around from place to place; it's taken me weeks to track her down. This facility is not one I'd been told about; I was only ever told about smaller containment centres, nothing on this scale..."

So, how did you know about the ones you knew about?" Gabriel frowned, looking intensely at his adversary.

"I was working... undercover, as a double agent," Bennet admitted heavily. "What I didn't figure on was them taking my daughter, then the said same daughter turning _terrorist_ to free those we had captured."

"The plane crash? I heard a rumour about that from someone. Claire caused that?" Gabriel chuckled.

"Along with Peter Petrelli, yes..."

"That figures," he snorted with amusement. "So Nathan had no qualms about turning family in, then?"

"It's out of Nathan's hands now," Bennet sighed heavily, "but right now, they are the least of my worries."

"So, how did they capture Claire again?" Gabriel frowned. "Pretty careless of you..."

"She lost her trust in me; started doing things that put herself, her family; all of us, in immense danger. Then one day her luck ran out, and they caught up with her."

"So, how're we gonna get in? It's heavily guarded, and there's only three of us..."

"_We_?" Bennet echoed incredulously. "There's gonna be no _we_..."

"You need me, Noah, a lot more than I need you," Gabriel reasoned, "so we can either do this separately and probably screw things up, or we can work together as a team," Gabriel shrugged.

"We need more of us," the Haitian worried. "Three is too few."

Noah Bennet frowned and looked at the site through the glasses that Gabriel had given to him, sighing deeply. His partner was right; three was far too few, but he did not know who else he could turn to, and he doubted that even if he had someone he could rely on to help, they would not be able to get to the facility as quickly as he wanted. He handed the binoculars back. "Do you have a plan?" he asked.

"I was trying to figure one out," Gabriel admitted. "I guess it was too much to ask that it would have been a similar set up to Primatech..."

"The holding cells should be asbestos or lead lined," Noah informed him, "if we could reach them, or if you could open them, we'd have a lot more help to hand."

"All they will think of is getting the fuck out."

"Oh, I dunno... revenge is a pretty powerful motivator, dontcha think?"

"We have to get in there first," the Haitian pointed out. "And we have spent far too long here anyway. "They may have spotted us."

"I think we'd know if they had spotted us," Gabriel replied. "The authorities aren't noted for their ability to sneak up quietly on someone; they have to go in with all sirens blaring."

"Maybe we can give them a false alarm...?" Bennet pondered thoughtfully. "Send the place into a panic and use that to our advantage?"

"Let us head back to the town and formulate a plan," the Haitian urged, nervous in spite of his companions confidence.

"Yeah," Noah agreed. "You coming?"

Gabriel frowned as he glanced at the prison, torn between wanting to go in and get Eve, and seeing the sense of making a plan of action. "Okay," he eventually nodded.

"So, who the hell came to your rescue, anyway?" Bennet pondered as they walked towards where he and the Haitian had left their jeep, a couple of miles back.

"Arthur Petrelli," Gabriel chuckled.

"Fuck! Don't _any_ of you stay dead?"

"Afraid not," he grinned, "thanks to your Claire..."

"Yeah, don't think I've forgotten about that, Gabriel."

"Nor I when you slit my throat, Noah..." he rejoined, glancing back at the facility, praying that he was not too late.

________


	7. Chapter 7

I do not own any character from the series of Heroes, and neither do I make any monies from the writing of this story. It is purely for my, and hopefully your, enjoyment.

As ever, thank you for reading, reviewing, and saving to favourites – it is always appreciated – Ani.

________

**Chapter Seven**

"Eve! Eve, stay with me," Marsha urged, gently shaking the barely concious woman. Judging by the amount of blood she had lost, and from what she could feel of her abdomen, Marsha felt her fear that Eve had suffered an internal rupture was an accurate one. She glanced across at Claire, still ranting at the guards as they passed by the window; her demands for a doctor falling on deaf ears. '_How many have died so far_?' Marsha wondered sadly. She almost stumbled over as a man suddenly appeared before her and crouched over Eve.

"Leave her alone!" she hissed, trying to push the man away but finding herself being blocked by an invisible force. "W-who are you?"

"A friend," the man assured her with a smile that did not quite reach his eyes. He glanced around the room of shocked face, then up at the window, shaking his head with amusement as the guards did not seem to notice him. He placed his hands on Eve, and as quickly as he appeared, he went again, taking Eve with him.

"Oh, God! I... I thought he was dead!" Claire gasped as she came from where she had been hiding behind some of the women.

"Who? You _know_ that guy?" Marsha demanded. "Who is he, and what the hell does he want with Eve?"

"I-I d-don't know... he was dead... Sylar killed him!"

"_Sylar_? Whoa, girly, you sure mix with some strange company," Chantelle remarked.

"Who was that man, Claire?" Marsha repeated.

"He's my... grandfather..."

"Oh great!" Chantelle sighed, "how're we gonna explain _that_ away? Oh, this man, who is apparently Claire's grandfather, and should have been killed by Sylar but wasn't, suddenly appeared outta nowhere and then disappeared with Eve...!"

"T-they'll kill us..." Marie stammered, wringing her hands together.

"They're gonne kill us anyway, honey..." Chantelle retorted.

"I don't think they are," Claire put in, chewing her lip. "I mean, I've been moved several times now, and they haven't killed me yet, nor have I seen anyone been taken away and not returned."

"So what they gonna do with us?" Chantelle demanded. "Lock us _all_ up indefinitely? How many d'you reckon there are like us? Hundreds? Millions? They can't lock us all up, so they're gonna start killing sooner or later."

"How did he use his power?" Marsha wondered, her mind still on the mystery man. "Or rather, two powers... I've never known anyone with two powers before..."

"H-he is very powerful," Claire fretted. "He takes powers from people."

"Great! Another Sylar..." Chantelle remarked caustically. "Doesn't help us explain how Eve disappeared, does it? An' I don't wanna know how they're gonna try and force the information from us..."

"That's enough!" Marsha declared as Marie started wailing with terror. "If this... what's his name?"

"Arthur Petrelli..."

"As in...? Fuck! They'll _never_ believe us!"

"Didn't Arthur Petrelli die of a heart attack over two years ago...?" Marsha frowned. "Are you sure that was him, Claire?"

"Oh yes!" Claire breathed. "That was him. He didn't die; it was a ruse, but Sylar was supposed to have killed him. I guess he didn't do it right..."

"Okay," Marsha sighed, shaking her head with disbelief. "If Arthur Petrelli is indeed _that _powerful, maybe the powers that be have heard about him, and know what he's capable of? Maybe they _will_ believe us?"

"Meanwhile," another woman, Jean, butted in, "can't we arrange those clothes to look as if Eve is still curled up there?"

"Good idea," Chantelle nodded, setting about the task herself.

________

Gabriel, Noah Bennet and the Haitian all looked at each other, quite unable to believe their luck as they continued to listen to the conversation going on in the adjoining booth.

"I reckon they should start it soon," the first man said. "There's getting too many of them now."

"Yeah," his partner agreed. "I mean I know we can hold hundreds more, but it makes me nervous guarding all them freaks. I mean, what if the system goes down and they break free? We're goners!"

"Let's pray it don't, at least not before they start implementing the programme."

"Th'sooner they fuckin' start, th'better," the first man sighed. "You shoulda seen it, Mike... this girl was just turning people to statues! They couldn't move; do anything!"

"Yeah, I heard. Too bad Raul died," Mike replied. "Asthma attack, wasn't it?"

"Yeah, the kid restricted his breathing until he died. Fuck! No-one could go near her; they had to gas the cell before they could go in."

"Frightening, man... just fuckin' frightening..."

"C'mon; we got an early start tomorrow," Mike's partner sighed. "If they didn't pay so well, no way in hell I'd do this job! Damned freaks!"

They waited until the two men had exited the bar, then Gabriel, Noah, and the Haitian got to their feet and followed them out of the door, spotting them a hundred yards or so away.

You won't need that," Gabriel smirked as he spotted Noah readying his gun.

"We want them alive," Bennet hissed. "We can question them about the facility."

Gabriel frowned with disappointment, surprised at how disgusted he had been to hear the way the two men had been talking about those held in the detention facility, especially the girl with the power, but he put it down to a dream he had had, whereby he had been playing with a young girl, who he assumed was his daughter. "Okay," he nodded reluctantly, gleaning pleasure from possibly being able to torture the information out of the men instead. A much better option than a quick kill, he decided.

"There is a disused building across the street," the Haitian mused, "we could take them there; there would be less risk of being seen."

"Good idea," Noah agreed, standing back and watching his accomplices use their powers to take out the two guards; the Haitian by rendering one unconscious, and Sylar by sending the other flying into a wall, the only sound being a muffled oof! before he slid to the ground, also out cold.

________

Eve opened her eyes, frowning at the strange dream she had just had, and looked around, wondering just where the hell she was. Then the memories came flooding back and she gulped back a sob. '_Oh, God! My baby_...' Eve curled herself into a ball on the bed, and sobbed bitter tears of sorrow and anger, wishing more than anything that Gabriel were there. '_I never even told him_,' she berated herself. '_He never knew he was going to be a father_...'

Slowly, Eve's sobs subsided with a shudder, and she shook herself in an effort to gather her thoughts. She had no idea where she was, or why she did not feel any pain; she had certainly felt as if she were dying earlier. Eve swung her legs over the side of the bed she was on, wondering why she was wearing a nightdress rather than the standard hospital gown she would have expected, and padded gingerly across the tasteful, but sparsely furnished room she was in, feeling a little wobbly even if she were in no pain. She tried the only door, unsurprised to find it locked. '_I guess the bastards sent a doctor after all_,' she mused bitterly, backing away quickly as she heard a key turn in the lock, wary of whoever was about to enter the room.

"Hello, Eve."

She watched fearfully as a man, about in his late fifties, stockily built with bright blue eyes, entered the room and made his way to a chair, picking it up and setting it down at the foot of the bed before sitting down on it, and indicating for Eve to settle herself back on the bed.

"How are you feeling now?"

"Who are you, and where am I?" Eve demanded with more bravura than she felt.

"My name is Arthur Petrelli, and you are somewhere safe."

"What... do you want with me?" she frowned, shocked at the revelation. "And why don't I hurt?"

"I healed you, Eve," Arthur smiled, "although I am sorry about your baby. I think you know why I want you..."

"To get to Gabriel," she stated matter of factly.

"That's right," he confirmed. "The government has to be stopped, and I need Gabriel to help me."

"He won't help you," Eve told him confidently. "He hates you."

"Lemme see... I saved _his_ life, and I saved _your_ life. I'd say he owes me, wouldn't you?"

"Gabriel doesn't care about being beholden to anyone."

"No, but he _does _care about you, Eve. He needs to be loved, and he believes that you are the one to give him that love."

"So you're going to threaten me to get him to do what you want?"

"No! No, not at all. You're going to persuade him to join me, Eve."

"Oh, I am, huh? And if I don't want to?"

Arthur sighed heavily as he considered his words. "Do you know how many people they are holding in the detention centres? How many children they have? How many foreign nationals they are holding illegally? It can't continue, Eve; we _have_ to stop them!"

"So get others with abilities to fight your fight. Gabriel won't."

"I have already gathered some together, but we need as many as we can get, including you, Eve. But Gabriel... You have no idea idea how powerful he is. I _need_ him."

"You're powerful, too," Eve reminded him.

"Yes I am," Arthur admitted, "but I can't do everything on my own."

"What about Peter?"

"Peter..." he sighed, "is too emotional. Peter will never be as powerful as Gabriel because he lets his feelings get in the way. Gabriel can... disconnect."

"He's pretty well connected with his emotions again now, I'm afraid. I won't stand by and let you turn him back to what he was."

"I won't turn him back because he has always been the same person," Arthur shrugged. "Whether you choose to deal with it or ignore it, the dark side of Gabriel's personality is always just beneath the surface, Eve."

"You think you know everything, don't you?" she snorted derisively.

"I do, Eve. I knew where to find you, didn't I?"

Eve fell silent as she considered his power, trying to push down a fissure of fear. "So how do you plan on fighting the government? Why can't you get your son to help you?"

"Nathan?" Arthur chuckled. "Because, my dear, Nathan is the one who suggested to the President that people with powers pose a threat to national security."

"But..."

"Yes, Nathan has a power too."

"So why did he do it? What purpose did he hope to achieve?"

"Nathan... is weak," Arthur sighed. "He will become President one day, but he fears what he doesn't understand, and although he has a power, he can't comprehend any of it, and it scares him."

"Weak? In what way?"

"He is power hungry, as many politicians are, but he is easily manipulated, and he is also bigoted towards those with powers, even though he is one of us. Combine those three things and we have this situation."

"What are they going to do with all those they have captured?" Eve asked, thinking of what Arthur had just said about Nathan being the only man with powers.

"There is a vaccine that takes away peoples powers. They're going to start injecting people with it, then release them back into the big wide world, _normal_..."

"Whether they want to or not...? You say _going_ to start injecting; they haven't already?"

"They've tested a few people, but they're waiting until they have enough to do everyone."

"But they don't _have_ everyone!"

"My guess is, they're going to do those they are holding, believing they have the majority of us."

"And do they?"

"If they knew the truth, Eve; if they knew just how many of us there really are... there'd be panic in streets, the national guard on patrol, and night time curfews..."

"There's really that many people with powers?" she gasped. "I really thought I was the only one when it first happened."

"There are millions of us, and not just in this country. We have cousins coming from all over the world to help us fight this injustice. You look tired; get some rest," Arthur smiled, getting up from the chair and putting it back in its place.

"Can I talk to Gabriel? Phone him?"

"I'm hoping that he's too busy right now," he chuckled.

"Doing what?" Eve frowned.

"Trying to rescue you."

________


	8. Chapter 8

I do not own any character from the series of Heroes, and neither do I make any monies from the writing of this story. It is purely for my, and hopefully your, enjoyment.

Don't forget this is _my_ take on what happened after the end of volume three; some things I've put in that happened in volume four, but it is my version of events.

So, who watched the finale? Who else is hopping bloody mad at what they did...? It is the most implausible thing they have _ever_ come up with, and yes, that includes people suddenly getting powers after an eclipse!

/rant

________

**Chapter eight**

Noah Bennet wrinkled his nose at the putrid stench of blood, urine, and faeces, and glanced at the naked, broken bodies of the two men who had had the misfortune to loosen their tongues within hearing distance of Sylar, and had paid the terrible price. But he and his companions had all the information they needed, plus the added bonus of two sets of uniforms and passes, which Noah had the foresight of removing from the men before Sylar set to work on them.

"We must hurry," the Haitian urged. "The next shift; _their_ shift will be starting in a couple of hours."

"Let's just hope they haven't been reported missing," Bennet worried, "else our break-in is going to be a very short one."

"You two put on the uniforms," Gabriel ordered, his calm exterior belying the turmoil within as he fought against the feeling of euphoria the torture and killing of the two men had given him.

"Who put you in charge?" Bennet sniped.

"My face is probably plastered on every wall in that fucking building!" Gabriel snarled. "If they think they have taken Sylar, they will probably be excited, scared, distracted... all of which will work to our advantage. Now, as the man said, we don't have a lot of time, so put the uniform on!"

Noah Bennet bridled as he slowly did as he was bade, shooting dark glances towards his nemesis, and now cohort. "It's going to look strange two mere guards bringing in the _infamous_ Sylar..." he retorted.

"By the time they figure that out, it will be too late."

"You hope."

"You got a better idea?" Gabriel growled, clenching his fists in an effort to stop himself from lashing out. Much as he hated having to work with others, he knew that it would be impossible for him to take on a complex the size of the detention centre alone. He prayed that it was the one Eve had been taken to. The fact that Bennet had not known of this centre nagged at the back of his mind.

"Let's go," the Haitian urged once he and Bennet had changed into the uniforms of the two dead men.

"Not so fast..." a voice warned, and Bennet and the Haitian looked in horror as Gabriel cried out and fell the the ground, his body twitching. Noah automatically reached for his gun, but was instead looking down the barrel of several others as they found themselves surrounded by black clad figures.

"You're not _them_..." Bennet frowned, looking around the group and realising that they were not members of the hit squad of the government forces, even though they were dressed as such.

"No, we're not," one of them replied, pulling off his balaclava and revealing himself to be Mohinder Suresh.

"_What_?" Noah exploded in astonishment, his shock compounded when Peter Petrelli revealed himself also. "What the hell is going on?"

"You can't try and take the unit," Peter told him as he injected Gabriel with a powerful paralysis drug. "We have someone inside and you would jeopardise them."

"And not only that," Mohinder added, "there is no way three of you could take the unit alone. "It would take dozens."

"Not even with him?" Noah frowned, nodding to the unconscious Gabriel.

"You might get further than most people would, but no," Peter replied as he checked his nemesis' vital signs and moved him to the recovery position. "What the hell is he doing here, anyway? And working with you...?"

"His girlfriend has been captured, so he says," Noah shrugged. "My Claire is in there and we agreed to join forces."

"Girlfriend...?" Peter queried, raising an eyebrow in surprise. "You believe him?"

"I really don't know," Noah sighed as he watched the other members of the group take off their disguises; some of whom he recognised as people he had taken for the Company when he worked for them. He exchanged worried glances with the Haitian. "He seemed pretty adamant that he was going in, with or without us."

"That will keep him unconscious?" the Haitian pondered, looking at Gabriel.

"It's not a sedative; it's a paralysis. He should recover from the taser pretty soon, but he won't be able to move."

"You hope..." Noah commented dryly.

"I'll deal with him if it doesn't," Peter shrugged, smiling to himself as Gabriel's eyes sprang open and he could see the frustration and anger in them as the other man tried to move. "We can't let you try and enter the unit," he explained. "We're gonna take Bennet and the Haitian, and by the time you can move, they'll be long gone. If you try to break in alone, you will be captured, and believe me, Sylar, not even _you_ can fight them."

"You are _not_ taking me anywhere!" Noah Bennet exclaimed. "I am getting my daughter back, and you are not doing a damned thing to stop me!"

"Noah..." Mohinder sighed, "you really don't have a chance; you of all people should know that."

"I will think of something!" the bespectacled man growled angrily. "If you hadn't kidnapped me when you did, I wouldn't have lost her!"

"She was jeopardising herself and you," Peter pointed out, "she would have been captured sooner or later, and that would have put you in an untenable position. This place is different," he added. "This is where they bring all the _special_ specials... you would never get close enough to rescue her." He frowned as he looked down at Gabriel, making strange noises as he struggled to move.

"You got an antidote to that?" Noah mused.

"I am _not_ letting him lose..."

"You could hold him with your power," the older man suggested. "The others could train their tasers on him..."

"Why? Why are you doing this; why do you trust him?" Mohinder frowned. "After all that he has done, to us three especially."

"Because he has a stake in all of this. And because he has something I think he wants to say to you, Peter."

Peter looked at Mohinder, indecision clearly showing on his face. "I... can't..." he replied hesitantly, looking at the stricken man who was clearly getting distressed.

"You might not have a choice, Peter," Noah shrugged. "He's gonna suffocate if you don't."

"He'll recover," Peter replied, "won't he...?"

"Makes no difference if he doesn't," Mohinder snapped. "He doesn't deserve to live!"

"Which makes you little better than them!" Peter rejoined, going to his backpack and taking out another syringe and handing it to Mohinder. "I need you to inject him..."

"I'll inject him," Noah offered. "I do know how to do it."

Peter held Gabriel with his telekinesis power whilst Bennet gave him the antidote, jumping back just in case Gabriel was stronger, but the effects of the taser and the paralysis drug had made him slow and disorientated.

You... said... _special_ specials..." Gabriel gasped, struggling for breath. "Eve... wasn't special special..."

"Then maybe they know she is connected to you?" Peter suggested, staring in shock as Gabriel groaned and screwed his eyes shut.

"No..." Gabriel whispered, "please, no..."

"You really _are_ here for a woman, aren't you?"

"I _have_ to get her," Gabriel insisted, already trying to fight against Peter's hold.

"Didn't you hear anything of what he said?" Mohinder snapped. "Although I'm tempted to let you try and break in alone; you deserve what they'd do to you!"

"Mohinder... he is still one of us," Peter reminded him. "If we start fighting each other, even Sylar, we're lost."

"One of us...?" Gabriel mused, looking at Mohinder.

"I... have a... power," Mohinder told him haltingly. "I injected myself with an early version of the formula."

"You're no different from me," Gabriel chuckled wryly. "None of you are any different from me..."

"We'll _never_ be like you!" Mohinder spat.

"You coveted power, Mohinder," Gabriel snarled, feeling his strength return. "So did I."

"D-do you h-have any connection to Arthur Petrelli...?" one of the female rebels asked Gabriel hesitantly, hoping to throw him off track. His growing anger terrified her, and she tried not to look at the bodies of the two guards; the thought that he might do that to any or all of them, was too horrific to contemplate.

"Why?" Gabriel demanded sharply, turning his attention to her. "What do you ask?"

"T-there's a rumour that a man with a power teleported in to one of the women's cells and took a woman out with him the same way. If... they knew she was connected with you, maybe it was her he took."

"And what makes you think it was Petrelli?"

"From what I've heard..." she offered, casting a quick glance towards Peter, "he would be the only one powerful enough to bypass their systems and blocks."

"_What?_ Arthur's dead! You killed him so I didn't have to!" Peter exploded, forcing Gabriel against a wall and pinning him there.

"Yeah, and I found out afterwards that that was the wrong way to kill him!" Gabriel rejoined. "But you knew that, didn't you, Peter? Why didn't you say something, hmm?"

"I... I didn't think about it until later," Peter fumbled, shaken by the revelation. "And by then, they'd... moved his body..." His frown deepened and he took a step towards the immobile man.

"Yeah?" Gabriel replied, arching an eyebrow as he stared into Peter's eyes. "How convenient..."

"How do you know he's... in fact, _how_ the fuck are _you_ still alive? Claire killed you, _properly_!"

"Arthur rescued me. Poetic don't you think?"

"Why would Arthur rescue_ you?_ You're not even his son!" Peter spat.

"No, but I am his nephew," Gabriel replied in an even tone. "His brother David is my father... did they ever tell you about David?"

"Only that he and his wife died in a car crash when I was about a year old," Peter frowned, no longer being aware of anyone else in the disused building, only Gabriel and himself. "David is not your father; Arthur fed you another lie, and you fell for it!"

"Nothing else, no children or anything?" Gabriel pressed, ignoring Peter's outburst.

"No! Nothing!" he insisted.

"Ah, well this is going to come as a bit of a shock then..." Gabriel taunted. "Y'see, you and me... we're... twins."

"_No_!" Peter screamed, sending Gabriel flying through the air and crashing into another wall.

"Leave it!" Noah hissed as the other members of the group went to move forward to defend Peter, their tasers aimed and ready.

"Peter..." Gabriel gasped, picking himself up from the floor, aching until his regeneration power kicked in and eased his muscles. "It's the truth..."

"And I suppose Arthur told you that, huh?" Peter shouted, advancing on Gabriel. "And you believed him, after all the lies he spun you, you believed him?"

"I can detect lies now," Gabriel shrugged. "He was telling the truth."

"And he told you that I was your twin brother? I don't believe it; I don't care what you say!"

"Ah, no... he didn't actually tell me _who_ my twin was. He wanted me to join forces with him again, and that was to be my bait. But you think about it, Petey... we're the same age, we have the same powers, different, but the same... we're two sides of the same coin. For every ounce of bad in me, there's good in you," Gabriel urged persuasively. "And you; you never fitted in to that family, did you? Always the odd one out..."

"That's... ridiculous..." Peter gasped, looking wildly around the building, as if searching for the truth, before focusing his attention back on Gabriel.

"Is it?" Gabriel asked, blocking Peter as the other man went to stop him again. "You think about it, Pete, and let me know when you decide that you want to help me stop Arthur for once and for all."

"It's not Arthur that needs stopping," Peter sighed, his senses reeling. "It's Angela and Nathan."

"So why the hell would Arthur kidnap Eve, if that's what he's done?"

"To force you to join him?" Noah Bennet suggested. "He needed your help against Angela before, perhaps he needs it more so now, and knows that Eve is good leverage against you?"

"Do you think Arthur is organising all of this?" Mohinder frowned, hiding his own shock at the revelation. He was certain that Sylar was lying, yet again. "The resistance movement?"

"Right up his alley," Noah mused, still watching both Gabriel and Peter as they faced each other.

"I don't believe you!" Peter hissed. "You're lying..."

"You can always ask your... _parents_..." Gabriel taunted as he released his hold on the other man. "Why are you so upset, Pete? You don't still consider Nathan your brother, after all that he's done, do you?"

"Go to hell!" Peter snarled, shooting a dark look at his tormentor before walking away from him, wanting to put as much distance as he could between them.

"We have to go," the Haitian urged. "It will be dawn soon and we will be discovered."

"I'm breaking in," Gabriel declared, "with or without any of you."

"Your woman might not be there!" Mohinder exclaimed. "It would be stupid!"

"What the hell do you care, Mohinder?" Gabriel sneered. "You want me to be captured, remember?"

"And you could reveal to them who is in the resistance, who could be leading it... we can't risk that!"

"I am not leaving without my daughter," Noah Bennet added. "And I know she is in there."

"This is madness!" Mohinder declared, throwing his hands up with exasperation. "Come on Peter, we have to leave, _now!_"

"I will help you break in," Peter announced as he re-joined them, "then you will come with me to see Angela."

"I... really don't think it would be a good idea to let me anywhere near that bitch..." Gabriel mused. "Not unless you want her blood on your hands?"

"That's the deal, take it or leave it!"

"Peter!" Mohinder cried. "What in God's name are you doing?"

"Think about it! If we succeed..."

"That's a bloody big _if_, Peter!"

"_If_ we did though, imagine what a coup that would be? If we could wreak enough havoc, maybe destroy as much as we can of it, they might even pull funding for the programme..."

"And our mole?" Mohinder demanded. "You _know_ how long it took for us to get someone successfully infiltrated in there!"

"And what are you going to do in the meantime, huh?" Gabriel queried. "We know everything about the place; the layouts, the working practises, security codes... what do _you_ know, Mohinder?"

"We know where the control centre is; if we can reach it, Gabriel, and Peter could control everything from there," Noah Bennet added. "If they could release the holding cells, there is no way the guards would be able to contain that many people."

"They would put their contingency plan into place, and many people would die!" Mohinder insisted.

"What is their contingency?" the Haitian asked.

"Tear gas," Peter sighed.

"But if we're in charge of the control room..." Bennet argued.

"And just where is the control room?" Mohinder demanded. "I doubt it's going to be right by the front door!"

"In the centre of the unit," Gabriel grinned ironically. "Be boring if it were too easy..."

"We're not going to be a part of this insanity!" the Indian insisted. "Come on," he urged to his companions as he made for the door.

"Who are you to speak for them?" Gabriel asked. "Why not let them decide whether they want to continue to pretend to be a resistance movement, or actually _do_ something against the government."

"And if your _girlfriend_ isn't there?"

"I'm praying she isn't; I'm praying Arthur has got her," Gabriel shrugged.

"And if he hasn't; if she is in one of the smaller units? Do you know how many of them there are in this country? You'd never find her!"

"Then I'll attack them one by one until I get her back..."

"On your own?" Mohinder snorted with derision.

"We are wasting time!" Noah Bennet hissed angrily. "Raise your hands those who want to join in the attack."

Mohinder looked around with a resigned sense of bewilderment as one by one, all bar himself and one other person, raised their hands.

"What is your power?" Gabriel enquired, looking at the Indian.

"You want it?" Mohinder snapped caustically. "Super strength."

"We could use you in there with us," Gabriel urged. "Please, Mohinder."

"All right," he eventually sighed, unable to believe that he had agreed to help the person he despised most in the world. "But you put one foot wrong..."

"He's been warned," Noah Bennet put in with a sarcastic smile. "And several of us know how to take him out, don't we...?"

Gabriel shot the bespectacled man a look as he followed the Haitian to the door, the others following behind them.

________


End file.
